GARDEN AND COSMOS: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur is an opportunity for the public in London to view this exhibition from the US. It explores Indian royal court painting ranging in date from the 17th-19th centuries. The exhibition features a major loan from India and consists of 54 paintings from the royal collection at the Mehrangarh Museum Trust in Jodhpur, which was set up by the current maharaja, Gaj Singh II, in 1972.
Remarkably, none of these paintings has ever previously been seen in Europe. Garden and Cosmos explores the two distinct styles of painting which flourished over the period represented in the exhibition – on the one hand the ornate style depicting the temporal pleasures of courtly life and the verdant forests where scenes from the epics took place (Garden) and, on the other, the metaphysical paintings concerned with philosophical speculation and the origin of the universe (Cosmos).
The 54 large format works on loan from the Mehrangarh Museum Trust are specific to the Jodhpur region and are not found elsewhere in Rajasthan. The paintings were created for the personal pleasure of the maharajas who ruled over this part of north-western India. As such, they represent the varying aesthetic tastes and differing political and spiritual views of three generations at the Jodhpur court. The first part of the exhibition centres on the paintings created for Bakhat Singh (1725-1751), depicting the pleasures of the royal court – the prince is shown in his fort–palace at Nagaur with its lush gardens surrounded by flowering forest; this section also includes vibrant illustrations of the great Indian epics, especially of the Ramayana. In this category the two paintings which show the crashing monsoon storms and the crossing to Lanka are especially dramatic.
The second part of the exhibition focuses on the paintings which originated during the long reign of Maharaja Man Singh (1803-1843), Bakhat Singh’s great-grandson. A fervent devotee of the Nath yogis, a religious sect, he commissioned more than 1,000 paintings to illustrate metaphysical concepts – and also to establish the political legitimacy of this esoteric group. In their subject matter, the paintings turn away from the glowing exterior world of court life and instead address the interior world of philosophical speculation and the origin of the universe. The new subject matter naturally demanded new artistic approaches. In painting after painting, the artists of this era demonstrate incredible versatility in their attempts to represent Hindu concepts and texts visually.
The paintings in this exhibition depict a diverse range of subject matter from the glorious Rajput gardens in desert palaces to images of cosmic origins and emphasis the political, cultural and spiritual vitality of the Jodhpur court and the sophisticated way in which artists were able to convey these ideas. Although the precise meaning of some of the final paintings is unclear, the large fields of distinctive, brilliantly coloured wave patterns remind the viewer that surrender to blocks of pulsating colour is not a 20th-century Western invention.
From 28 May to 23 August at the British Museum, Great Russell Street, London, www.britishmuseum.org.
Indian Summer: From May to October 2009 The British is hosting Indian Summer, a season dedicated to Indian culture featuring a unique programme of exhibitions, installations, performances, lectures and film screenings. Apart from the Garden and Cosmos exhibition India Landscape is a specially commissioned space presenting Indian biodiversity in the museum’s forecourt, in collaboration with Kew Gardens along with a varied public programme of events. The Landscape highlights the significance of plants use in Indian culture – as food, medicine and in trade – and the way plants such as chilli (native to South America) have travelled and become completely indigenised. The garden planting also coincides with the 250th anniversary of the foundation of RBG Kew and the 250th anniversary of the British Museum opening to the public. More information on www.britishmuseum.org
