Indian Art Under the Company’s Shadow
A European Officer Entering a Fort Jaipur, Early Nineteenth Century. Opaque watercolour and gold on paper 23cm x 34cm. Acc. No.: 85.404. National Museum, New Delhi.
A recent exhibition at New Delhi’s National Museum explored the lives and lifestyles of 19th century Indians, with stories of the resilience of many unknown and known Indian artists.
How did Indians live in the 19th century? How did Europeans influence Indians and Indian lifestyle in this period? A recent exhibition at New Delhi’s National Museum seeks the answers to these questions and more, with stories of the resilience of many unknown and known Indian artists.
The series, titled ‘Company Painting: Visual Memoirs of Nineteenth Century India’ is a trip down 19th century India, capturing various aspects of Indian life at the dawn of modernity. The exhibition and catalogue are divided into eleven sections: Splendid Indian Maharajas; Indian Aristocrats; Portraitures of Women; Indian Architecture; Europeans in India; Processions and Ceremonies; European Print and Indian Painting; Many Paths, One Reality; Indian Deities, Trades and Professions; Vignettes of Everyday Life; and Studies of the Natural World.
One of the sections that depicts vignettes of everyday life for instance shows a man saying goodbye to his wife before leaving for work, two cheerful women sharing their life stories over a huqqa, Pahari men meeting at a common pathway. These paintings which were commissioned by British officers, travellers, or the elite of this time. They were mostly painted using water colours and were eventually taken back to England as souvenirs.
Qudsia Bagh Palace, Riverfront View, Delhi, Early Nineteenth Century. Watercolour on paper 21.5cm x 31.5cm. Acc. No.: 552. Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi
Likewise, in the section titled ‘Indian Architecture’, the scientific depiction of architecture by British traveller artists is highlighted, particularly William Hodges, and uncle-nephew duo Thomas and William Daniell who captured minute details of artwork and architecture. Specifics like the Tomb of Ghiyath-ud-Din Tughluq (Delhi) and the painting of Qudsia Bagh palace from the collection of the Archaeological Survey of India all show the scientific perspective of Europe with the detailing of Indian miniatures.
The term ‘Company’ may remind many Indians of our colonial past and its role as a tool in the British colonial agenda; but in actuality, the term was actually coined in the post-colonial era. To highlight this form, the National Museum Institute brought together over 200 paintings from the National Museum itself, the National Gallery of Modern Art, the Archaeological Survey of India, Victoria Memorial Hall (Kolkata) and Botanical Survey of India (Kolkata).
This exhibition is a celebration of the Indian spirit of amalgamation and coexistence. “We hope the audience will cherish the richness of nineteenth-century India in its various aspects shown in eleven sections,” says Dr Savita Kumari, the principal curator of the exhibition. “While exploring the section on architecture, we hope the audience will notice the loss of architectural heritage due to negligence, terrorism, and war. For example, we lost the Bamiyan Buddhist site due to terrorism and the palace of Qudsia Begum during the uprising of 1857.” Kumari is also Assistant Professor at the Department of History of Art of National Museum Institute.
The catalogue is significant for it brings forth the Indian perspective on Company Painting as until now the major work on Company Painting has been done by western scholars. Most of the contributors in the catalogue are young emerging scholars and professionals who attempted to narrate the stories depicted, thus empowering the subject with an added layer of context. This has been a significant departure from usual methodology.
There are three digital interfaces in the exhibition, presented in an effort to appeal to a wider audience. “In the first section, we have animated a painting showing a European moving in a procession on an elephant back like an Indian nawabs,” says Kumari. “After going through a complex historical narrative, the visitor reaches the hero wall, and the silence is broken by the sound of an elephant. Thus, adding a fun element to the narrative. We have a digital collage in the empirical studies section where we picked up details from the flora and fauna section to create the mood of a forest. This is particularly liked by our young visitors. Finally, before leaving the hall, visitors reach the interactive photo booth where they can transport themselves to nineteenth-century India and become a part of a painting. Photos can be immediately downloaded and sent to social media, friends, and family.”
Buddha Figure at the Caves of Bamiyan Nineteenth Century. Lithograph 10.4cm x 16.6cm. Acc. No.: 877. Archaeological Survey of India, New Delhi. Inscription in Roman: “Female figure at Bameean”.
Look carefully, and you can see a sense of democratization of art. Earlier, art was patronized by the higher strata of society which comprised royalty and aristocracy. This changed in the nineteenth century. Traditional patronage shrank, and artists had to find new avenues of livelihood. European officials, travellers, and nouveau riche came to the rescue. Artists adapted to their tastes and produced both highly-detailed and elementary works with quick brush strokes, based on the ability to pay.
“Since the patronage of this group was not as consistent and long as that of the royal ateliers, artists started selling their works in sets like modern-day postcards at marketplaces, riverfronts where tourists and people influx were seen frequently,” says Kumari. “Thus, accessibility to artistic products became possible for ordinary people. Depending upon their purchasing capacity, artists prepared their works and thus emerged the bazaar style in company painting.”
Traditional patronage shrank, and artists had to find new avenues of livelihood. European officials, travellers, and nouveau riche came to the rescue. Artists adapted to their tastes to produce both highly-detailed and elementary works with quick brush strokes, based on the ability to pay.
The eleven sections are grouped under three broad themes: elite, ethnography, and empirical studies. The idea is to take the visitors on a journey of the culturally vivid and diverse period of nineteenth-century India. “The division is conventional to tap the visitor's familiarity with the subject and make them feel connected with the overall narrative,” Kumari adds. “We intended to make them the spokesperson of the exhibition. We succeeded in our endeavour as some visitors interpret the work from their vantage point and are coming up with sound research and posting it on social media.”
The preparation of the exhibition coincided with the two waves of a pandemic. The museum also brought together six organizations for their management expertise, as each had a distinct take on the collection and the process of loaning the artworks.
“Mounting and display needed constant rethinking,” says Kumari. “Also, we experimented with new lighting for the exhibits and digital interfaces, which were only recently used by the National Museum. The best part of the exhibition was the excellent curatorial team. We received tremendous support from all the organizations involved in the exhibition. Professionals working in these organizations were very keen on making this exhibition successful.”
The true strength of this exhibition and catalogue is that it is an attestation to the diversity of India in the 19th century, and of the continued Indian spirit of amalgamation and assimilation in its cultural mosaic. As this exhibition is a culmination of the partnership among different institutions, it is likely that there will be continued dialogue and collaboration among them in the future as well. Safe to say that, for now, the artistic exploration of this period of history is in good hands.
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Bindu Gopal Rao is a freelance writer and photographer based in Bengaluru. She is passionate about all things to do with the environment. You can follow her on Instagram @bindugopalrao.
