Highlights of the exquisite James Ivory collection

An exhibition entitled ‘Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur’ at the British Museum last year provided a great opportunity to experience the unique art tradition, which flourished in the royal courts (17th- 19th centuries), ranging from monumental artworks to miniatures.

Simultaneously, The Peabody Essex Museum hosted ‘ReVisions: India’s Artists Engaging Traditions’ that presented leading contemporary artists working in tandem with traditional pieces exemplifying their source of inspiration like medieval temple sculpture and Mughal court painting. Earlier this year, London’s National Portrait Gallery hosted a unique show that narrated the tale of the Indian portrait over three centuries, tracking the role of portraiture in Indian art history.

The beauty and grandeur of India’s majestic miniature art form is on display in full glory at a London gallery. Here are some of the highlights of the exquisite The James Ivory collection:

• There are three 16th century paintings in it. The first of these is done in the early Rajput style form as early as 1491.
• As the collection reveals, subsequent concept of paintings illustrating stories rather than iconography was perhaps awakened in the Hindu mind by the influence of paintings illustrating Persian texts. The development of this new style broadly coincided with the establishment of the Mughal dynasty in India in 1526 by Babur.
• Akbar’s (1556–1605) rapid expansion of Mughal power was accompanied by an equally rapid development in the arts and especially painting.
• Paintings from Mewar form one of the most important groups in this collection. It throws some interesting light on styles allied to that of Mewar that was influential far beyond its borders, particularly in southern Rajasthan and Gujarat. The great shrine at Nathdwara in northern Mewar had its own artistic style.

The James Ivory collection is also comprised of a very interesting group of portraits picked from the late 18th and the 19th centuries. It includes a small, albeit important group of Pahari Rajput paintings from the same period.