PAINTING

Mughul Miniatures

Between the last decades of the 16th century and the end of the 18th century, simultaneous development took place of the Rajasthani, Pahari and the Mughul schools of miniature painting in tempera on paper. Rajasthani and Pahari painting, distinguishable into many local styles in the early phases of development, derives mainly from folk traditions. Summary forms, abbreviated drawing and brilliance of colour contribute towards a primitive lyricism. Musical modes are the most favoured subjects. Subsequent development is towards delicacy and refinement. The principal theme is the Krishna legend and the dominant mood is romantic. In later Rajasthani and Pahari miniatures, the influence of the Mughul painting becomes obvious. The idyllic emotional overtones and the devotional lyricism of Rajasthani and Pahari paintings are comparable to the dominant qualities of the contemporary vernacular poetry. Indian painters worked in the Mughul court under the supervision of Persian miniaturists. European naturalism was deliberately emulated. Sheer opulence, exquisite skill and descriptive verisimilitude characterise the mature examples of this court art. Subjects are predominantly secular with particular emphasis on minutely worked out portraiture. To mention a few of the many Mughul painters famous for their exceptional skill, Abul Hasan painted magnificent court scenes; Bichittar was a master of vivid portraiture; Mansur delineated birds, animals and flowers with precision and charm. Mughul painting, that had spread its stylistic influence far and wide, gradually developed an empty skill-fetishism and generally languished for cessation of patronage.

Contemporary Phase

With the establishment of British rule, several art schools, modelled on contemporary British institutions, were established in India. If one aspect of the British rule is recognized to have been the inculcation, on a certain social level, of a liberal humanism, the cumulative reaction against the rule ushered in a period of fervent nationalism and revival. The ingredients of the new painting of the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries, however, are not merely anachronistic delvings into myth and history in quest of vanished glory. The combination of aristocratic and popular elements from the past with contemporary events, and the feeling of discovery of a national identity, assimilated within the new right of personal expression of the individual artist, created works which do reflect the mood of the times. Apart from the already assimilated European influences, Mughul, Rajput, and Persian miniatures and the contemporary traditionalistic work from Japan were among the stylistic and technical determinatives. To these were added an acquaintance with ancient Indian sculptural types and a somewhat decorative interpretation of the Ajanta and Bagh murals. Abanindranath Tagore, Gogonendranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose are among the most important painters of this movement. Abanindranath developed a highly sophisticated style with a leaning towards portraiture. A distinguished colourist, he employed every possible nuance of pastel or water colour to evoke emotional overtones in his miniature-size paintings. Gogonendranath was a brilliant cartoonist-critic of social and political wrongs. Nandalal, more of a technical revivalist than the two Tagore brothers, became known for his epic themes. Subsequently, he developed into a bold explorer of the vast fields of Asian art. While developing within the tenets of nationalism, a few among the more conscious painters discovered the indigenous and elementary vitality of folk forms. The deliberate orientation that followed, continues to the present. Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher-Gill, Benode Mukerjee and Ram Kinkar are among the more significant artists of this second phase of contemporary painting. Jamini Roy, trained in the European academic technique, took up research in basic and conceptual forms in art. Moved by the formal abbreviations of folk art, he paints in a simplified manner that is architectonic. Amrita Sher-Gill was a talented painter working in Paris. Arriving in India, she was profoundly stirred by the Indian scene. Thereafter, her brief spell of life was occupied in an effort to harmonize the characteristic aspects of Indian life and art with an aesthetic outlook based on Gauguin and Modigliani. Today, a large number of Indian artists would appear to believe, that a 'one world' of modern art has been established, leaving the dissenting, impatient critic to deplore the predominantly derivative character of contemporary art in India. An amazing capacity to absorb, in synthesis, even the most disparate, heterogeneous elements, has been a constant in the history of Indian art. Given time, and a growth of popular interest, the modern artists in India, some of whom are masters of considerable accomplishment, may be fully expected to produce work that is contemporary as well as Indian.