Vivacious visions of Mughal India

Providing a peep into India’s artistic past, a captivating collection courtesy Howard Hodgkin offers vivacious ‘Visions of Mughal India’. This exciting exhibition is on view at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.

It displays a comprehensive collection of this renowned artist-collector for the first time in its entirety, giving an enticing overview of Indian court painting, which prospered during the Mughal era (c. 1550–1850), comprising the refined naturalistic creations of the imperial Mughal court; the subtly colored and poetic paintings of the Deccani Sultanates; and the vibrantly hued and boldly drawn styles of the Rajput kingdoms.

They include illustrations of epics and myths, royal portraits and many scenes of court life or hunting scenes. The artist-collector quips: “I just wanted great art." Unveiling the intrinsic beauty of his collection, considered one of the best in the world, an accompanying essay states, “All his Indian pictures are of an unusual or exceptional quality.

Some of the works vividly evoke the urban or daily life of India, a country which has inspired Howard Hodgkin on his frequent visits made over some 50 years. There is also great diversity in these pictures, some containing exciting passages or juxtapositions of color, as can also be found in his own work. But many others are lightly colored brush drawings which show an expressive mastery of line.”

This is essentially a very personal and focused collection, formed by an artist’s keen eye. Artistic quality has always mattered most to Hodgkin – the narrative content and other aspects of paintings far less. All his pictures of an exceptional or unusual quality include illustrations of myths and epics, royal portraits and hunting scenes or scenes of court life.

There is a large group of elephant portraits as well as studies of both Mughal and Kota schools, whereas some of the works evoke the daily life of India, a nation that has inspired the collector-artist, prompting frequent visits on his part over some 50 years.