HA227: Indian Painting

Reading guide for week of October 1, 2002

Th Oct 3 Rajput: Malwa and Mewar

Reading: Beach, 115-121; 157-160; 174-178; 216-219;
Beach, “Context” (cp); Desai (cp); Goswamy, “Essence”(cp);
Miller, “Valmiki” (cp); Losty (cp)

F Oct.4 Discussion: Poetry and Painting: Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda

Reading: Miller, Love Song; Goswamy, “Rasa” (cp)

• Milo Cleveland Beach, “The Context of Rajput Painting,” Ars Orientalis, vol.10 (1975), pp.11-17

-makes a case for what he calls the “folk-based” early Rajput style and the court-based Mughal style.

-What visual elements of early Rajput style can you point to that he terms “folk-based?

-what do you think of his question at the end about the appropriateness of traditional art-historical methodology for the study of early Indian painting?

• Vishakha Desai, “Timeless Symbols: Royal Portraits from Rajasthan, 17^th-19^th centuries,” in Karine Schomer, ed., The Idea of Rajasthan (Delhi: Manohar, 1994), pp.313-342

-Desai (the curator and author of the Sikander/Sheikh exhibition and catalogue) discusses the shift away from literary and mythological narrative towards portraiture in Rajput painting. To what does she attribute this shift? What does she mean when she says that (p.338) “even when necessary changes were made. . . fundamental cultural principles were not altered.” What is she referring to?

• B.N. Goswamy, “Essence and appearance: some notes on Indian portraiture,” in Robert Skelton, ed., Facets of Indian Art (London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1986), pp.193-202

-does Goswamy’s article support or challenge Desai’s approach to portraiture?

-think back to our earliest classes on the concept of the divinized body as a particular Indian ideal. How does this ideal surface in Rajput painting, and does it differ from the Mughal ideal seen in portraits of the divine ruler?

• Barbara Stoler Miller, “The Universe of Rama: Valmiki’s Epic Poem,” in Vidya Dehejia, ed., The Legend of Rama: Artistic Visions (Bombay: Marg Publications, 1994), pp.15-26

-great introduction to one of the major topics of traditional Indian painting and Indian religious thought.

-Miller makes connections between poetic imagery and visual imagery. Give examples of how the moral and cosmic principles of the narrative are made visually manifest.

• Jeremiah P. Losty, “Sahib Din’s Book of Battles: Rana Jagat Singh’s Yuddhakanda,” in Vidya Dehejia, ed., The Legend of Rama: Artistic Visions (Bombay: Marg Publications, 1994), pp.101-116

-Discusses a major manuscript of the Ramayana. We’ll be seeing examples in class. --Think about all the different visual strategies employed for conveying the moods and narratives of the epic.

-How are actions, moods and emotions (rasas) made manifest? How is this similar to, or different from, the Hamza Nama?

• B.N. Goswamy, “Rasa: Delight of the Reason,” introduction to Essence of Indian Art (San Francisco: Asian Art Museum, 1986), pp.17-30

-A seminal and important discussion of a fundamental Indian system of values in art. (Listen to some Indian music next week to get you in the “mood” for discussion section.)