A brush with India

In the 18th and 19th centuries a lot of Indian artists were commissioned by the British to visually document their land and people From architecture to trade and commerce and natural history to the everyday life of people these artworks called Company paintings reflected India in a foreign palette mdash a rare hybrid of the delicacy and details of Mughal ateliertrained artists and the refinement of European art A curation of 125 Company paintings of Indian birds the first of its kind in the country is now being showcased by DAG at Dr Bhau Daji Lad BDL Mumbai City Museum at an exhibition titled Birds of India Company Paintings c 18001835Hill Myna Gracula religiosa and Baya Weaver Ploceus philippinusCurated by Dr Giles Tillotson senior vicepresident exhibitions and publications DAG the showcase depicts birds from across India and includes baya weaver golden oriole oriental magpie robin different kinds of hornbills Asian paradiseflycatcher hill myna and Eurasian woodcock among other species many of which are rare today ldquoA lot of Company paintings in India came out of the botanical gardens of India the directors of these gardens commissioned artists We regard Company paintings as great works of art but I donrsquot think thatrsquos necessarily how the patrons of the time were seeing them mdash they were keen on getting the artists to record the appearance of the flora and fauna as accurately as possible out of a scientific interestrdquo shares Tillotson So the artists observed the birds in open spaces as very few of them were captured ldquoThey were constrained in that sense because this was long before taxidermy was invented or before the days of binoculars As a result some paintings reflect a few errorsrdquo he addsPart of the interior of the Elephanta by Thomas Daniell and William DaniellBirds of India will be on display at the museum along with another exhibition New Found Lands The Indian Landscape from Empire to Freedom till February It features 99 artworks from the archive of Cunninghame Graham 18001804 an album dating back to 1810 of birds from northeast India The Faber album from 1830 in which the artistrsquos observations contribute to the ornithological studies expounded in this exhibition and four folios by artist Chuni Lal of Patna from the 1835 Edward Inge album ldquoChuni Lal was the only identified artist in these paintings because the patrons then were more interested in the subject rather than the artistrdquo explains TillotsonDr Giles TillotsonThe curator informs us that the exhibition traces the journey of Company paintings from a time when it was a niche genre to when it became a popular style ldquoOrnithology has been a lifelong passion of mine I grew up engaging in bird watching including in India in the past 40 years so it was a wonderful experience curating the exhibitionrdquo he signs offTill February 15 10 am to 6 pmAt 91A Veermata Jijabai Bhonsale Udyan Rani Baug Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Road Byculla EastCall 23731234Landscapes of IndiaAlso on display at the museum is New Found Lands The Indian Landscape from Empire to Freedom an arthistorical show unravelling a threepart visual story of India from 1780 to 1980 Featuring 108 works it investigates the development of landscape painting from the perspective of the lsquopicturesquersquo the lsquonaturalisticrsquo and the lsquofreersquo phases in a 200year periodldquoItrsquos a story of the freedom struggle the imposition of foreign values Indians assimilating a Western approach and applying it to their country and then a period of more liberty when artists invented newer approaches and styles to look at their own landrdquo shares Tillotson Tasneem Zakaria Mehta MD and director BDL Museum said ldquoBoth the exhibitions comprise artworks that reflect artistic developments and influences that had a powerful impact on art movements and cultural production in India particularly on the students of Sir JJ School of Art during this period and for many years after A range of talks and activities have been planned in conjunction with the exhibitions and we look forward to welcoming our friends and patronsrdquo