History Of Indian Paintings
There are a range of art types in Indian art, including painting, sculpture, pottery, and textile arts, such as woven silk. It encompasses the whole Indian subcontinent geographically, including what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and eastern Afghanistan. In the 3rd millennium BC, the roots of Indian art can be traced to pre-historic settlements.
Indian painting has a very long tradition and history of Indian art, but very few early examples survive because of the climatic conditions. The oldest Indian paintings are the rock art in the Bhimbetka rock shelters, which are about 30,000 years old.
INDIAN MURALS: In the early middle ages, the tradition of Indian murals began from the 2nd century BC to the 8th-10th century AD. In places like Ajanta, Bagh, Sittanavasal, Armamalai Cave (Tamil Nadu), Ravan Chhaya rock shelter, Kailasanatha temple in Ellora Caves, murals from this time are mainly natural caves and rock-cut chambers.
MUGHAL PAINTINGS: Mughal painting is a style of Indian painting, typically confined to book illustrations and done in miniatures, which originated, evolved and took shape between the 16th and 19th centuries during the time of the Mughal Empire. Persian miniatures strongly inspired the Mughal style, which in turn influenced other Indian styles, including the painting styles of the Rajput, Pahari and Deccan. The reign of Akbar (1556-1605) ushered in a new age of miniature Indian painting. He established a new capital at Fatehpur Sikri, where he gathered artists from India and Persia, after he had consolidated his political control. He was the first monarch who, under the guidance of two master Persian artists, Mir Sayyed Ali and Abdus Samad, founded an atelier in India. The Hamzanama collection, illustrated by Mir Sayyid Ali, was one of the first creations of that school of miniature painting.
DECCAN PAINTINGS: Deccan painting exceeds in the brilliance of their colour, the sophistication and artistry of their composition, and a general air of decadent luxury" compared to the early Mughal painting emerging at the same time to the north. There are several royal portraits, but the accurate qualities of their Mughal equivalent are missing.
DURING BRITISH RULE: In the 18th century, when the rule of the British East India Company in India began, a large number of Europeans migrated to India. The Company Style mixed traditional elements with a more Western treatment of perspective, volume and recession from Rajput and Mughal art. In India, oil and easel painting started at the beginning of the 18th century, and many European artists, such as Zoffany, Kettle, Hodges, Thomas and William Daniell, Joshua Reynolds, Emily Eden, and George Chinnery, came to India in search of fame and riches. It founded the earliest formal art schools in India, namely the Government College of Fine Arts in Madras (1850), the Government College of Art & Craft in Calcutta (1854) and the Sir J. J. School of Art in Bombay (1857). Western influences began to have an effect on Indian art during the colonial period. In order to depict Indian themes, some artists created a style that used Western concepts of form, perspective and realism. Others have consciously taken inspiration from folk art, including Jamini Roy.
POST-INDEPENDENCE: Several schools of art in India provided access to new techniques and ideas at the time of Independence in 1947. To showcase these artists, galleries were created. In the post-colonial period, the Radical Artists' Community, formed shortly after India became independent in 1947, was intended to develop new ways of expressing India. Six eminent artists were the founders, K. H. Ara, S. K. Bakre, H. A. Gade, S.H. Raza, M.F. Husain, and F. N. Souza. In 1956, although the group was disbanded, it was deeply influential in transforming the Indian art idiom. With the country's economic liberalization since the early 1990s, Indian art has received a boost. Artists from diverse fields have now begun to bring various types of work to the table.
What is your favourite piece of Indian painting? Check Pranjal Arts art collection on this website to browse through the different paintings and painting styles.