ART
Visual narrative insights
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`In an era of less egocentric artists than our own, patronised by the courts, these incredible paintings sing narratives of their times to us.'
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Rajput art creates a magic world where all men are heroic, all women are beautiful, passionate and shy, beasts both wild and tame are the friends of man and trees and flowers are conscious of the footsteps of the bridegroom as he passes by. This magic world is not unreal or fanciful but a world of imagination and eternity, visible to all who do not refuse to see with the transfiguring eyes of love.
Ananda K. Coomaraswamy
THE finest of art is comparable to lyrics that haunt the inner mind, lingering on the ear. It is in a similar manner that this impeccably produced volume illuminates the maze of Indian traditional painting, delighting connoisseurs and laymen alike. Art historians and collectors recognise that few have studied the field in depth with as keen an eye to detail as Pratapaditya Pal, Fellow for Research at the Norton Simon Museum of Art at Pasadena, California. His over 60 volumes on South Asian art testify to his scholarship.
Unusual compositions
At the very outset of this catalogue, which accompanied a Pasadena exhibition of 80 paintings in 2003, Pal clarifies, "The expression `Rajput' is used loosely to describe Hindu rulers of small and large kingdoms that flourished mostly in north-central India, stretching from Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal in the northern Himalayan foothills, down to the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, parts of which were known as Malwa or Bundelkhand."
On its vivid pages, brilliant with 150 illustrations, folklore, epics, religious texts and history gain a new lease of life, revealing unusual compositional aspects, exuberant with colour. Pal's introduction offers brilliant insights into the form. On how these mainly paper-based paintings were meant to be handled, not hung, while the court connoisseur took in their singular components. On how some may have a short poem inscribed around the text or on the reverse. Some even indicate who commissioned the work, with dates.
Different takes
Savouring the book's essence, we encounter a stunning Bundi watercolour of an ardhanarishwara. And a Bikaner folio of the Devimahatmya, depicting an embattled Vishnu in combat with titans. And a stunning Kangra visual of Kali that is both fantastical and poetic, like an epic condensation. That's besides a multi-frame balakanda Ramayana folio (Kangra/ Garhwal) of Dasaratha watching marriage festivities.
Whether a Baramasa or Ragamala painting, whether based on the Gitagovinda or the Ramayana, these renditions resonate with collective memory. Of Krishna destroying the demon Trinavarta in a Kangra artist's late-18th Century sketch for simultaneous narration. Or the multiple-frame Kangra depiction of Krishna's arrival at the Dvaraka palace, bustling with implied movement. Or a startling Bundi painting of court ladies avidly watching a cockfight. Or Krishna offering the parijata bloom to Rukmini, with the mischief-bent Narada looking on. Or Bhagavatapurana illustrations with an individual, totally unrealistic, perspective.
Constant surprise
Pal's erudite text that accompanies each painting makes this book worth collecting. So does a map indicating the modern states and regional painting schools that are the Kapoor collection's focus. An English translation of the paintings' inscriptions enhances its value. How else would we learn what characterises work by the talented Guler family of Manaku, his son Fattu, and grandsons Madho, Molak and Kanshiram? Or how to identify the patchwork shawl that is typical of Guru Nanak amidst the scene of a visit to a Sikh guru, done in Himachal Pradesh or Punjab around 1850?
Apart from the unfolding of anticipated scenes, the viewer is constantly surprised. By an unusual 19th Century Kishangarh painting of Vaishnava teachers in front of a temple. By another remarkable Kishangarh delineation of a group of inebriated ascetics, each rendered with a quirky touch. By a Devgarh painting of a woman at a Shiva shrine, possibly representing the Ragini Bhairavi. By a Mewar rendition of action-filled frames showing Maharana Sangram Singh worshipping Krishna. By a Bikaner depiction of Prithvisimha at worship. Or even a Kangra equestrian profile of a Sikh prince.
In each, the breakaway elements, the stylistic innovations within the format, and Pal's outlining of significant features alert us to what might have otherwise been less visible.
Narratives of their times
By establishing connections with scholarly observations from B.N. Goswamy, Eberhard Fischer, M.S. Randhawa, Barbara Stoler Miller, Karl Khandalavala and others, Pal unravels the mystique of these paintings. Whether from Kangra or Kishangarh, Chamba or Nurpur, Bikaner or Kota, he presents them in perspective, sharing inside intelligence on their source, inspiration, style and possible creators. The reader feels indebted to the Kapoor donations to the Norton Simon Museum that triggered this learning experience.
In an era of less egocentric artists than our own, patronised by the courts, these incredible paintings sing narratives of their times to us. For both the layman and the scholar in search of significance as they journey into Indian narrative painting, this would be a volume that counts.
Painted Poems: Rajput Paintings from the Ramesh and Urmil Kapoor Collection, Pratapaditya Pal, Norton Simon Museum/ Mapin Publishing, 2004, p.192, hardcover, price not stated.
ADITI DE
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