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Indian Heritage
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PAINTINGS
Despite the great gap in
our knowledge of continuous history, the story of Indian
paintings can begin with art of the primitive man in
rock shelters and caves. Indian art has been one of
the oldest and omnipresent through out the passage of
different cultures that India has survived. Though influence
of each culture can be seen on the Indian arts. The
Indian art has evolved and changed as one era changed
into another. All this thus evolving and influencing
by way of social, political and religious upheavals
even then Indian paintings and sculptures have
carved their own niche in the World of Art.
A
fine blend of emotion, colour, beauty and nature , woven
together to give an Art immortal dimension which
prevailed over the centuries. Every state of India has
its own distinctive cultural influence on the art which
in return makes India one of the most outstanding
examples of display of different eras which India experienced
under various dynasties.
PAINTINGS
{Murals} {Manuscripts} {Contemporary
Art} |
Murals: The
fine examples of Indian painting tradition is found
in the Ajanta Caves. These Caves are in the
modern Maharashtra. The theme is of the compassionated
Buddha which is their inspiration. Jataka tales pertaining to Buddhist mythology form the themes
of these paintings. Anonymous artists painted them collectively
in sinuous line and sensitive colours.
The
entire Ajanta is covered with sensitive characters from
the various former lives of the Enlightened One, the
Buddha. There is mixture of tropical vegetation,
insects, birds, animals, human and angelic forms, textiles,
Jewellery and architecture all shown in various colours.
The themes are in form of continuous narrative
story portrayed on the walls. The stream of shapes,
as if encompassing the manifest world, frequently congeals
into groups held together with the tension of the inner
relationship of being to being. There is an elaborate
language of gestures intensifying the expression. The
murals also formed the basis of an entire artistic tradition
which later spread to other countries.
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Manuscript: By the 11th century, the size of murals had been
reduced down from the extended mural surface to
the the size of a palm leaf strip. Quality in painting
declined over the time and the drawn line became brittle
and angular. These manuscript paintings came from Bengal
and Nepal, again telling the Buddhist stories.
This style spread to western India and one can see it
on many illuminated manuscripts dealing with Jain texts
during the period of 12th-15th century. Manuscript
paintings diversified their theme by illustrating the
lyricism of the well known romantic poems. Symbolism
was at the heart of the Indian miniaturists' visual
expressions, relationship with nature, beyond just the
primary function of lines and pigments, which is what
caught their interest. The beauty of expression of these
ideas inspire wonder, enchantment and pleasure.
Before
the Mughals came to India, Indian paintings had established
and stabilized a fine tradition of pictorial style.
It was subsequently influenced by the tradition of Persian
miniature art.
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Muslims came
to India and drove the Hindu artistic tradition to dust.
In their obsession to build empires and to convert Hindus
to Islam, they had little time for art or culture. It
was only Akbar the Great after the Mughals were firmly
established India took patronage to arts. His encouragement
of miniature paintings took a blend of Persian
and Islamic styles. Both Indian and Persian artists,
together wove a spell of art , one drew while the other
filled in the colour and details. This further received
momentum when Akbar commissioned the translation and
illustration of Hindu Epics like the Ramayana and the
Mahabharata. The artists in Akbar's court primarily
painted portraits, courtly life, battle scenes, exquisite
wildlife, the nature. The tradition received more
encouragement under Jehangir, Akbar's son, who was also
a great patron of arts and architecture. Now along with
the paints artists' were known to also use malachite,
lapis lazuli, gold, silver and an ingenious substance
called Peori, a yellow dye extracted from the urine
of cows, on mango leaves.
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Later
the artists went to the courts of Rajput princes.
They improved upon their techniques and skills.
Emergence of several new schools of miniature
paintings took place, each having its own distinctive
style. Among these are Rajasthan or the Mewar
School of Paintings, Jammu or the Pahari School and
Basohli or the Kangra School. In the hill states, the
artists could work undisturbed by the political upheavals
of the plains of northern India. The mythical
sources of music are depicted in the Tanjore Paintings
of the South.
Contemporary Art: With
arrival of the British Raj, it's East India Company
commissioned Indian artists to paint picturesque landscapes
in oil and water colours. These painters
were often referred to as the Company school. Resulting
in the loss of originality of Indian art for a while.
However this lasted for a while and soon political awareness
was seen all around the country.
Bengal
School was the movement which had Abanindranath Tagore,
Gaganendranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose as among the
most important painters of this movement. Abanindranath
developed a highly sophisticated style with a leaning
towards portraiture. Gaganendranath showed a flair of
being a successes as a cartoonist-critic of social and
political (mis) happenings of that time. Nandalal, more
of a technical revivalist than the two Tagore brothers,
became known for his epic themes and later developed
into a bold explorer of vast fields of Asian art.
With
advent of nationalism, some of the few
painters involved in the folk forms . Some of
the contemporary painters are Jamini Roy, Amrita
Sher-Gill, Benode Mukerjee and Ram Kinkar were
among the more significant artists of the time. And
among the present genre of new painters we can add the
names of M.F. Hussain and Krishan Khanna and Satish
Gujral.
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