10. The Changing World of Visual Arts

1. 10. The Changing World of Visual Arts Class VIII: History

2. New Forms of Imperial Art • From 18th century a stream of European artists came to India along with British traders and rulers. • The artists brought with them new styles and new conventions of painting. • The production of European artists was expected to look real and lifelike. • European introduced Oil Painting (unfamiliar to Indians) for producing real pictures. • Key painting subjects – Britain’s culture, power and people to emphasize the glory of British Empire.

3. Picturesque Painting Style • One popular imperial tradition was that of Picturesque Landscapepainting. • This style of painting depicted India as a quaint (old-fashioned) land, to be explored by travelling British artists; its landscape was rugged and wild, seemingly untamed by human hands. • Thomas Danielland his nephew William Daniell(most famous artists) came to India in 1785 and toured for 7 yearsfrom Calcutta to southern India. They produced some of the most evocative (bringing strong memories) picturesque landscapes of Britain’s newly conquered territories in India. Their albums of engravings (by woods or metal) were eagerly bought by British public keen to know about Britain’s empire. • Pictures Theme: New cities (with wide avenues), majestic European style buildings and new modes of transport

4. Picturesque Landscape Ruins on the banks of the Ganges at Ghazipur, painted by Thomas Daniell(oil, 1791)

5. Picturesque Landscape Clive street in Calcutta, drawn by Thomas and William Daniell, 1786

6. Portrait Painting • Portrait Painting (vertical) - A picture of a person in which the face and its expression is prominent. Immensely popular in colonial India. • Portraiture - The art of making portraits • The rich and the powerful, both British and Indian, wanted to see themselves on canvas. • Indian tradition of painting portraits in Miniature while colonial portraits were life-size images that looked lifelike and real. • This new style of portraiture also served as an ideal means of displaying the lavish lifestyles, wealth and status that the empire generated.

7. Portrait Painting Contd… • European painters came to India for profitable commissions • To formally choose someone to do a special piece of work usually against payment • Johann Zoffany (famous European painter) • Born in Germany, migrated to England • Came to India in mid 1780s for 5 years • Indians as submissive and inferior and with shadowy background • Britishers as superior and imperious, arrogant with luxury life

8. Portrait Paintings Portrait of Governor- General Hastings with his wife in their Belvedere estate, painted by Johann Zoffany (oil, 1784) Notice the grand colonial mansion in the background. The Aurial and Dashwood Families of Calcutta, painted by Johann Zoffany(oil, 1784)

9. Portrait Painting • Mohammad Ali Khan (nawab) defeated in a war with Britishers in 1770s – commissioned two European Artists, Tilly Kettle and George Willison, to paint his portraits. • Later gifted that to the King of England and the Directors of East India Company. • Despite losing political power, his portraits were in a royal figure. Portrait of Nawab Muhammad Ali Khan of Arcot, painted by George Willison(oil, 1775)

10. Painting History • Third category of imperial art: “History Painting” • Dramatize and recreate various episodes of British imperial historyand enjoyed great prestige and popularity during the late 18th and 19th centuries. • One of these initial paintings was produced by Francis Hayman in 1762 and placed on public display in the Vaxushall Gardens in London (Lord Clive’s meeting with Mir Jafar after the Battle of Plassey).

11. Painting History Lord Clive meeting Mir Jafar, Nawab of Murshidabad, after the Battle of Plassey, painted by Francis Hayman (oil, 1762) - This battle was won by conspiracy though, showing the supremacy of Britishers.

12. Robert Kerr Porter – Painted battlefield at Seringapatnam (now Srirangapatnam) and defeat of Tipu Sultan in 1799. • British troops are shown storming the fort from all the sides, cutting Tipu Sultan’s soldiers into pieces, climbing the fort walls, raising the British flags on the ramparts of the Tipu’s fort Painting History The Storming of Seringapatam, painted by Rober Kerr Porter (panorama in oil, 1800)

13. Painting History • David Wilkie– Painted Sir David Baird standing triumphantly and Tipu Sultan dead on the floor (left corner) • Tipu’s forces were defeated and his clothes were torn and stripped off • Such paintings seems to announce the fate of those who dare to oppose the British. The discovery of the body of Sultan Tipu by General Sir David Baird, 4 May 1799, painted by David Wilkie (oil, 1839)

14. Mural Paintings • A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. • A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture Tipu Sultan and Mural Paintings: • In Mysore, TipuSultan not only fought the British on the battlefield but also resisted the cultured traditions associated with them. • He continued to encourage local traditions, and had the walls of his palace at Seringapatamcovered with mural paintings (a wall painting) done by local artists. • This painting depicts the famous Battle of Polilur of 1780 in which Tipu Sultan and Haidar Ali defeated British troops.

15. Mural Painting Detail from a mural painting commissioned by Tipu Sultan at the DariyaDaulat palace at Seringapatam, commemorating Haidar Ali’s victory over the English army at the battle of Polilur of 1780

16. In Murshidabad, Britishers installed puppet nawabs as Mir Jafar and then Mir Qasim– local miniatures to absorb styles of British – local artists created perspective (far objects as smaller and near objects as bigger) and use of light and shade to create real life like figure – Britishers could not support and pay them. Mural Painting NawabMubarakuddaulah of Murshidabad at an Id procession, a miniature copy by a local court painter of an oil painting by the visiting British artist, G. Farrington (1799 -1800)

17. Company Paintings Company Painting • Local painters produced a vast number of images of local plants and animals, historical buildings and monuments, festivals and processions, trades and crafts, castes and communities. These pictures were collected by the East India Company officials, came to be known as Company paintings. • Company paintings on empty spaces (in pic), no idea about surroundings is provided. Paired couples representing different religious sects of the Tanjore region, Company painting from Tanjore (1830)

18. The New Popular Indian Art: Kalighat/ Scroll Paintings • The new popular Indian Art In the 19th century a new world of popular art developed in many of the cities of India. • In Bengal, around the pilgrimage Centre of the temple of Kalighat, local village scroll painters (called Patuas) and potters (called Kumors in eastern India and Kumars in northern India) began developing a new style of art. • They moved from the surrounding villages into Calcutta in the early 19th century. This was the time when the city was expanded as a commercial and administrative center– with offices, buildings, roads, markets. • Before 19th century, the village patuas and kumors had worked on mythological themes and produced images of gods and goddesses.

19. The New Popular Indian Art: Kalighat/ Scroll Paintings Contd… • Early Kalighat painting used a bold, deliberately non-realistic style, where the figures emerge large and powerful, with a minimum of lines, detail and colours. • Later, after 1840 Kalighat paintings were focussed around social and political themes of Britishers. • Scroll painters used to laugh and create mockery of those who copy British/Western life style thereby showing the anger of common man against Britishers. • These were engraved in wooden blocks that are used to take images on paper manually. Later, mechanical printing presses were set-up to print in large numbers and could be sold in cheap.

20. Englishman on an elephant hunting a tiger, Kalighat painting, mid- nineteenth century, Calcutta (watercolour on paper) This painting is a typical example of how patuas depicted English life in India. Battle between Hanuman and Jambuvan, Kalighat painting, mid-nineteenth century, Calcutta (watercolour on paper) Notice how the artists have modernised traditional images. Hanuman is wearing footwear which became popular in the nineteenth century. Baboo on a chair, Kalighat painting, nineteenth century The baboo here is shown as a clownish figure, wearing shoes with high heels and sitting on a chair with ridiculously pointed legs. Kalighat/ Scroll Paintings

21. New Methods of Printing: Calcutta Art Studio • Middle class artists set-up printing press – new method of life study, oil painting and print making – major was Calcutta Art Studio(lifelike images of prominent Bengali personalities) • Early 20th century – popular prints carried nationalist messages – Bharat mata (themes like goddess with national flag or god/goddesses slaughtering the British) Bharat Mata, a popular print

22. Mythological scene from the legend of Nala and Damayanti, produced by Calcutta Art Studio, 1878-1880 Kali, produced by Calcutta Art Studio, 1880s This is an advertisement of an Indian brand of cigarette that was banned by the British in 1905. You can see the heads of British soldiers amongst the demons killed by the goddess. Religious images were thus used to express nationalist ideas and inspire people against British rule.

23. Evolution of Photographers • Recorded cultural diversity • Victory of Britishers • Showed India as primitive land • Samuel Bourne • Came to India in early 1860s • Set-up famous photographic studio in Calcutta known as Bourne and Shephard • Pointed arches with Gothic buildings in 19th century – borrowed from the classical style of Greece and Rome Sati ChauraGhat, Kanpur, photograph by Samuel Bourne, 1865

24. The Search for National Art • The search of National Art towards the end of the nineteenth century, a stronger connection was established between art and nationalism. • Many painters now tried to develop a style that could be considered both modern and Indian.

25. Raja Ram Ravi Varma • One of the first artists who tried to create a style that was both modern and national • Belonged to the family of the maharajas of Travancore in Kerala(addressed as Raja) • Mastered oil paintings and realistic life study • Painted themes from Indian mythology (dramatized scenes from Mahabharata and Ramayana) • Established picture production team and printing press in the outskirts of Bombay • Colour printings of religious paintings were mass produced Krishna Sandhan, by Raja Ravi Varma

26. Abindranath Tagore • Nephew of Rabindranath Tagore • Different vision for National Art • Rejected the art of Ravi Varmaas imitative and westernized, and declared that such style was unsuited for depicting the nations ancient myths and legends. • Felt that a genuine Indian style of painting had to draw inspiration from non-western art traditions, and try to capture the spiritual sense of the east. • Turned to miniature and mural paintings in Ajanta caves • Influenced by Japanese Artists • Witnessed new style of paintings

27. My Mother, painted by AbanindranathTagore (watercolour) The Banished Yaksha of Kalidas’s poem Meghaduta, painted by Abanindranath Tagore (watercolour, 1904) Notice the misty background, the soft colours, and the absence of any hard lines in the painting. These are stylistic elements you will often find in many Japanese water colour landscapes

28. Nandlal Bose • Student of Abindranath Tagore • Used 3D effects not found in AbindranathTagore’s paintings • Lyrical flow of lines, elongated limbs and postures of figures • New Art forms: Inspiration from living folk art and tribal designs JatugrihaDaha (The Burning of the House of Lac during Pandava’s exile in the forest), painted by Nandalal Bose (watercolour, 1912)

29. OkakuraKakuzo, Japan • 1904: Published book “The ideals of the East” • Opening lines of the book: “Asia is one” • Asia is humiliated by west and Asians must collectively resist western dominance • Save traditional techniques of Japanese art • Principal founder of 1st Japanese Art Academy • Visited Shantiniketan and was influenced by Rabindranath Tagore and Abindranath Tagore

30. Thank You !! Damayanthi, painted by Raja Ravi Verma Any Queries/ Doubts?