HA227: Indian Painting

Reading guide for week of 17 September

Next week’s readings are somewhat information-packed and technical. They are assigned primarily for reference and to give you the “big picture” of the historical development of early painting in India. I don’t expect you to digest all of them in detail, but I do want you to be familiar with the basic techniques, formats, and stylistic range of this period. Since our time in lecture is limited, I depend upon you to educate yourself in areas we can’t fully address in class, but that are nevertheless very important to be familiar with.

Aside from your Beach textbook, the other readings are in the coursepack:

Nancy Purinton and Richard Newman, “A Technical Analysis of Indian Painting Materials,” in Pride of the Princes: Indian Art of the Mughal Era in the Cincinnati Art Museum (Cincinnati: Cincinnati Art Museum, 1987), pp.145-86 (skim for reference only)

Andrew Topsfield, An Introduction to Indian Court Painting (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1984), pp.5-6 (very short; provides contextual information)

Amina Okada, Indian Miniatures of the Mughal Court (New York: Harry Abrams, 1992), pp.11-15 (very short; contextual information, mostly on Akbar)

John Seyller, “Scribal Notes on Mughal Manuscript Illustrations,” Artibus Asiae, vol.48, nos.3-4 (1987), pp.247-77 (SKIP FOR THIS WEEK—READ NEXT WEEK)

Amy G. Poster, Realms of Heroism: Indian Paintings at the Brooklyn Museum (New York: Hudson Hills Press in association with the Brooklyn Museum, 1994), pp.13-27

(accessible overview of Indian painting; puts different schools and periods in context)

One way to conceptualize how the readings can be useful is to think in terms of a potential exam question. Say, for example, I was to ask you to compare and contrast an Ajanta wall painting with an early Jain manuscript painting. What would you say about the differences in technique and materials? How about scale? Function? Audience? Who patronized these? in what areas of India? What would you have to say about how and why the figures are rendered so differently—apart from several centuries’ time difference, what else can you conclude from such dramatic stylistic differences?

In terms of materials, what would you say were the relative advantages and disadvantages of palm-leaf, cloth, paper, and wall-painting? What impact did the introduction of paper have?

What are some of the reasons patrons chose to sponsor the copying and illustration of manuscripts? Why was Akbar so important, and what was unusual about his patronage?

Poster, p.18, says”. . . “there evolved under Emperor Akbar . . . a purely Mughal style that combined Persian elegance, precision, and harmony with the dynamism and natural vibrancy of the indigenous pre-Mughal tradition, together with . . . European infoluences. . .” Can you single out some examples that support this statement? (don’t forget that there is a large number of excellent books on reserve, should you want to see some gorgeous color illustrations).