Exhibition Showcases Astonishing, Rare
Artworks by European Artists in Delhi
Delhi, 21 Jul (ONA) — A new
exhibition in Delhi showcasing rare artworks by European artists gives insights
into how the British ruled the country.
Called Destination India: Foreign
Artists in India, 1857-1947, the show focuses on artists who travelled to
colonial India from around the world.
The representation of India through
the European and British artists has “long been a subject of intrigue and exploration”,
writes Indian MP and author Shashi Tharoor, in an introduction to the show, BBC
news reported.
He writes this eye-catching phrase, “The
fascination with India’s unique landscapes, grand monuments, vibrant traditions
and rich history has drawn many to its shores, seeking to capture the essence
of this multifaceted nation.”
Tharoor notes that the show is
“refreshing and essential” as it explores the less-explored, yet a compelling
period of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, rather than just the early
pioneers.
The exhibition showcases artworks,
including from British artist William Carpenter, that give glimpses into not
only the royal courts, but also daily life in the Empire.
Many interesting artists visited
India from England and other European countries in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. They were mainly conventional artists working in oil and watercolour
and various print media.
“They were attracted to the people,
and not just to the grandees, but to ordinary people in the streets. If there
was still an element of the picturesque, it was a more intimate and animated
version of that aesthetic,” says Ashish Anand, managing director of DAG, a
leading art firm which has put together the show.
“In their works we find an India –
if we can put it this way – that we do not just see, but that we can hear and
smell.”
Mainly a war artist, Simpson was
sent to India in 1859 by a publishing company to illustrate the aftermath of
the violent uprising two years earlier. Indian soldiers, known as sepoys, had
in 1857 set off a rebellion against the British rule, often referred to as the
first war of independence.
Simpson’s project halted when the
publishing company went bankrupt. He called it the “biggest disaster of my
life”. Nonetheless, he continued travelling and sketching his expeditions
across the sub-continent.
A significant European artist, Olinto
Ghilardi shaped modern Indian art in the early 20th Century.
He mentored Abanindranath Tagore -
nephew of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and founder of the Bengal School
of Art, which shaped modern Indian painting. Ghilardi encouraged him to
experiment with watercolours, gouache, and pastels, which he extensively used
later in his work.
Ghilardi also served as the vice principal
of the Government School of Art in Calcutta (now Kolkata).
Not much is known about the life of
the Italian painter before he arrived in Kolkata. His association with Tagore
indicates his acceptance as an artist among Kolkata’s Bengali elite.
Much later, in 1911, Ghilardi became
a prominent member of an avant-garde group of Italian artists.
British artist Carlton Alfred Smith lived
in India between 1916 and 1923. He often painted landscapes along with
portraits of people.
A painter of the late Victorian
period from Camden Town in London, Smith began as a lithographer before
switching to painting. A member of the Royal Academy of Art, he’s known for
drawing interiors of cottages and the English countryside.
A gifted student from Surrey, George
Strahan, a British army engineer and artist. He joined the army and arrived in
India in 1860, working in towns of Roorkee and Haridwar.
Two years later, he joined the
Topographical Survey of India and started mapping central India, Rajasthan and
the Himalayas.
In 1888, he became superintendent of
the Great Trigonometrical Survey, which mapped the Indian subcontinent.
At the Survey, Strahan drew relief
maps before colour printing was introduced.
After retirement, he lived in the
hills of Dehradun and travelled to Kashmir every summer.
A historical painter and
illustrator, German artist Woldemar Friedrich spent much of his career teaching
at prestigious German art academies. In the late 1880s, he travelled to India
and created a series of landscapes and illustrations, published in the 1893
book “Six Months in India”.
Trained at the Royal Academy Schools
in London, Carpenter became a renowned 19th-Century portrait and landscape
painter.
Arriving in India in 1850, he
travelled extensively, painting rulers, street scenes, landscapes, and locals
across Bombay (now Mumbai), Rajasthan, Delhi, Punjab, Kashmir, Lahore, Ceylon
(Sri Lanka), and Afghanistan.
English artist Charles William
Bartlett, Dover-born Bartlett was one of the world’s leading Japanese woodblock
painters, and later switched to fine art.
In 1913, he travelled to India,
Indonesia and China. He designed 38 woodblock prints for his Japanese publisher
from 1916 to 1925, including many scenes from his travels in South Asia.
American artist Edwin Lord Weeks
painted colourful oil on canvas of a bullock-cart in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, in
1882.
Born in Boston to a wealthy family,
Weeks was among the first American artists to visit India. His business family
supported his artistic endeavours.
Weeks first travelled to India
between 1882 and 1883, painting places mainly in Rajasthan. He returned in
1886, when he visited at least seven cities. Known for his realist style and
attention to detail, Weeks also wrote a travel account of his journeys through
Persia (present day Iran) and India in 1896.
— Ends/Khalid
