Indian ART

iINDIAN ART WORLD

With a 5000-year-old culture, Indian Art is rich in its tapestry of ancient heritage, medieval times, Mughal rule, British rule, Progressive art and now contemporary art. The earliest recorded art of India originated from a religious Hindu background, which was later replaced by a soaring popular Buddhist art. Moreover, from a timeless era art in India has been inspired by spiritualism and mystical relationship between man and god. Art in India had survived in its homeland and spread from time to time all over the world. This was possible because many kings who recognized budding talent patronized art and themselves were great connoisseurs. Each king has left a deep impression of his affinity to the artist community. Until today, art is patronized by the rich and famous in the country.

Indian Art Guide

Art in India pre-dates history, and can be traced to cave paintings of early man, the dawn of civilization, its changing form can be traced from ancient Indian times, through the different conquerors and dynasties that ruled its land to modern times. From the seals, terracotta and bronze figurines, pottery, folk art that decorated doors, verandahs, courtyards, guest rooms, temples to the array of attire and jewellery that adorned the Indian people masculine or feminine. India has a rich culture and tradition in art through ancient times, the ages of Buddhism, Ghandhara Art, Medieval India, and India under British rule right up to Contemporary Indian Art.

Art and its Functions

Art is the expression of man’s history, feelings and perceptions. We would have no idea or record of man’s past had we not references to cave paintings, frescoes, tapestries, sculptures, pottery, artefacts, icons and paintings.

It has been asked, ‘What is Art?’ and ‘What is the function of Art?’ Art then obviously is an expression by man, visually or aurally, of his observations and perspectives. In that case, what is the function of these expressions? Why does man feel compelled to surround himself with these expressions that he produces? Amongst his basic needs is shelter. Once this need of shelter is fulfilled along with his other basic needs, he then likes to beautify the shelter, and he beautifies it with Art.

Art can here be divided into three forms: (please note that here we are restricting ourselves to the ambit of paintings only). The first segment is straightforward images he sees around him, which he reproduces and looks at for pleasure. The second is an abstract expression, converted through the eyes of the artist into myriad designs and colours. And the third expression is the progress to modern times when, particularly in the west, artists feel the need make their work provoke the spectator into taking a new look at life or ask questions because of the representation before the viewer.

All Art needs to have relevance, a connection with the person viewing it, because if it were unable to make a connection at some level with the observer, it would lose its relevance.

All paintings cannot be relevant to everyone all the time. The viewer will relate to a visual in his individual frame of reference. Anyone collecting Art, or looking at paintings for the purpose of buying, should relate or feel a response to the particular piece of Art being considered. It may be the beauty of the scene; it may be the recollection of childhood memories, it maybe colours which evoke a feeling of joy, melancholy or some other emotion. Basically, the viewer has to react or emote on some level with the piece of Art he is buying.

Each ‘individual’ will make his ‘individual’ choice and each one will decide whether they want to be immersed and surrounded by Art; just have a few selected pieces; or maybe settle for different wall adornments they prefer because of their ‘individual’ inclinations.

But it is nice to know like Alice on ‘Jabberwocky’ in Lewis Caroll’s ‘Through the looking Glass’: “Somehow it seems to fill my head with ideas – only I don’t know exactly what they are.” It is interesting to know that the same feeling can get evoked by a painting on the wall!

History of Indian Art

2nd century BC produced the magnificent cave paintings and they still are a big attraction. The famous Ajanta and Ellora caves in the Deccan jungles of Maharastra can be considered the ancient art galleries that have remained unscathed by attackers. Most of the artwork reflects on the growth of Buddhism during the period which also spread to South east Asia.

Many foreigners have not understood Indian art because they have no background or knowledge of the religion and symbols. Therefore, they tend to confuse the meaning and misinterpret it. Properly understood Indian Art represents a mystical outlook of the people and a spiritual connection. Now with awareness and different artists using interpretation techniques even ancient art is being appreciated.

Modern Indian Art

In the beginning of the 20th century, some educated Indians began painting new themes, which were directly inspired by the ancient culture of India. With the arrival of the foreigners in the motherland most artists were pinning to get back to the core of native themes. Some bold new revivalists that changed the face of the art world. IN the forefront was Rabindranath Tagore from West Bengal. He lit the torch that was kept aflame by his nephews. While the country’s politics was stormy, no artist worth his salt drew inspiration from its turmoil. During this time the biggest name that emerged was that of Raja Ravi Varma from the kingdom of Tranvancore. His talents took him to Europe where he learnt to paint in oils. To this day, paintings of God and Goddesses under his signature are fascinating art lovers.

A group of progressive artist decided to express their talents during the turbulent days. Landscapes, nature, portraits were some of the themes that artists chose during this time. Current poster boy of the art world M F Hussain is one of the progressive artists who is rocking at the age of 88 years. These artists gave a completely new meaning to Indian art in the following years. As artists started to express themselves, art galleries were needed to display their works. Art galleries appeared in Delhi and Mumbai only in the post sixties. The face of Indian Art was changing with times.

Indian Art Today

Once the government recognized the need to give the new breed of artists a solid platform the colors on the canvas have inspired and encouraged talent from all over the country. Today many artists are producing great works of art and exhibiting them abroad. Most Indian paintings are finding buyers in other countries. The uniqueness of Indian Art still lies in its rich cultural heritage. The art mart in India has gone global and like other sectors it is an economically a viable proposition for business. Somewhere in the world right now, an Indian painting will be bought or sold at an auction and at an unheard price. The paintbrush is becoming as powerful as the pen to express for many Indians.

Best of luck!

000000