Painting and Sculptures In India

Painting and Sculptures In India

1. Paintings And Sculptures

2. Sculptures in indian art: The first sculptures in India date back to the Indus Valley civilization, where stone and bronze carvings have been discovered. This is one of the earliest instances of sculpture in the world. Later, as Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism developed further, India produced some of the most intricate bronzes in the world, as well as un rivalled temple carvings. Some huge shrines, such as the one at Ellora were not actually constructed using blocks, but instead carved out of rock, making them perhaps the largest and most intricate sculptures in the world.

3. During the 2nd to 1st century BCE in far northern India, in what is now southern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan, sculptures became more explicit, representing episodes of the Buddha’s life and teachings. Although India had a long sculptural tradition and a mastery of rich iconography, the Buddha was never represented in human form before this time, but only through some of his symbols. This may be because Gandharan Buddhist sculpture in modern Afghanistan displays Greek and Persian artistic influence. Artistically, the Gandharan school of sculpture is said to have contributed wavy hair, drapery covering both shoulders, shoes and sandals, acanthus leaf decorations, etc.

4. The pink sandstone sculptures of Mathura evolved during the Gupta period (4th to 6th century) to reach a very high fineness of execution and delicacy in the modelling. Newer sculptures in Afghanistan, in stucco, schist or clay, display very strong blending of Indian post-Gupta mannerism and Classical influence, Hellenistic or possibly even Greco-Roman. Meanwhile, elsewhere in India, less anatomically accurate styles of human representation evolved, leading to the classical art that the world is now familiar with, and contributing to Buddhist and Hindu sculpture throughout Asia.

5. Miniature paintings of moghuls: Mughal painting  is a particular style of South Asian  painting , generally confined to  miniatures  either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums, which emerged from  Persian miniature  painting, with Indian Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist influences, and developed during the period of the  Mughal Empire  (16th - 19th centuries). Mughal painting was rich in variety and included portraits, events and scenes from court life, wild life and hunting scenes, and illustrations of battles. Mughal painting developed and flourished during the reigns of  Akbar ,  Jahangir  and  Shah Jahan .

6. During the reign of Akbar (1556-1605), the imperial court, apart from being the centre of administrative authority to manage and rule the vast Mughal empire, also emerged as a centre of cultural excellence. Mughal painting thrived and hundreds of painters created innumerable paintings depicting scenes from various Hindu epics including the Ramayana and the Mahabharata; themes with animal fables; individual portraits; and paintings on scores of different themes. Mughal style during this period continued to refine itself with elements of realism and naturalism coming to the fore.

7. Jahangir (1605-27) had an artistic inclination and during his reign Mughal painting developed further. Brushwork became finer and the colors lighter. Jahangir was also deeply influenced by European painting. During his reign he came into direct contact with the English Crown and was sent gifts of oil paintings, which included portraits of the King and Queen. He encouraged his royal atelier to take up the single point perspective favoured by European artists, unlike the flattened multi-layered style used in traditional miniatures He particularly encouraged paintings depicting events of his own life, individual portraits, and studies of birds, flowers and animals.

8. The  Jahangirnama  , written during his lifetime, which is a biographical account of Jahangir, has several paintings, including some unusual subjects such as the sexual union of a saint with a tigress, and fights between spiders. During the reign of Shah Jahan (1628-58), Mughal paintings continued to develop, but they gradually became cold and rigid. Themes including musical parties; lovers, sometimes in intimate positions, on terraces and gardens; and ascetics gathered around a fire, abound in the Mughal paintings of this period.

9. Major artists: The Persian master artists Abdus Samad and Mir Sayid Ali, who had accompanied Humayun to India, were in charge of the imperial atelier during the early formative stages of Mughal painting. Mughal painting flourished during the late 16th and early 17th centuries with spectacular works of art by master artists such as Basawan, Lal, Miskin, Kesu Das, and Daswanth. Govardhan  was a noted painter during the reigns of Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. The sub-imperial school of Mughal painting included artists such as  Mushfiq , Kamal, and Fazl. During the first half of the 18th century, many Mughal-trained artists left the imperial workshop to work at Rajput courts. These include artists such as Bhawanidas and his son  Dalchand .

10. Decline: Aurangzeb  (1658-1707) did not actively encourage Mughal paintings, but as this art form had gathered momentum and had a number of patrons, Mughal paintings continued to survive, but the decline had set in. Some sources however note that a few of the best Mughal paintings were made for Aurangzeb, speculating that the painters may have realized that he was about to close the workshops and thus exceeded themselves in his behalf. A brief revival was noticed during the reign of  Muhammad Shah  ' Rangeela ' (1719-48), but by the time of  Shah Alam II  (1759-1806), the art of Mughal painting had lost its glory. By that time, other schools of Indian painting had developed, including, in the royal courts of the Rajput kingdoms of  Rajputana ,  Rajput painting  and in the cities ruled by the  British East India Company , the  Company style  under Western influence.

11. Modern moghul art: Mughal miniature paintings are still being created today by a small number of artists in  Rajasthan  concentrated mainly in  Jaipur . Although many of these miniatures are skillful copies of the originals, some artists have produced modern works using classic methods to, at times, remarkable artistic effect. The skills needed to produce these modern versions of Mughal miniatures are still passed on from generation to generation, although many artisans also employ dozens of workers, often painting under trying working conditions, to produce remarkable works sold under the signature of their modern masters. Of the modern Mughal masters recognized by India, the most prominent remains  Rafi Uddin  who is the recipient of a large number of artistic honours from India  over the last several decades.

12. His younger brother  Saif Uddin , who ghost-painted for his famous brother for years, has since become the most recognized modern Mughal painter straying from traditional Indian scenes into themes well away from century old traditions with remarkable effect. Other masters in Rajasthan include Kaluram Panchal, Ram Gopal Vijayvargiya, Ved Pal Sharma, Kailash Raj, Tilak Gitai, Gopal Kamawat, Mohammed Usman and Mohammed Luqman, Kishan Mali Sharma and the Joshi family.

13. Rajasthani Paintings Rajasthani Painting, is a style of Indian painting, evolved and flourished during the 18th century in the royal courts of  Rajputana , India, flowing from the style of Mughal painting, itself derived from the Persian miniature. Each Rajput kingdom evolved a distinct style, but with certain common features. Rajput paintings depict a number of themes, events of epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, Krishna’s life, beautiful landscapes, and humans.  Miniatures in manuscripts or single sheets to be kept in albums were the preferred medium of Rajput painting, but many paintings were done on the walls of palaces, inner chambers of the forts

14. An 18th century Rajput painting by the artist  Nihâl Chand .

15. Godhuli ,  Mewar , ca. 1813

16. Bas relief A bas-relief is a projecting image with a shallow overall depth. The background is very compressed or completely flat, as on most coins, on which all images are in low relief. A bas-relief may use any medium or technique of sculpture, but stone carving and metal casting are the traditional ones. If more than half of most rounded or cylindrical elements such as heads and legs project from the background, a sculpture is usually considered to be  alto rilievo  or "high relief", although the degree of relief within both types may vary across a composition, with prominent features such as faces in higher relief.

17. Georges Jeanclos Bas-Relief terra cotta

18. Bas Relief Angkor Wat  by  ChrisJ  

19. 40 feet high bas relief, Mahabalipuram

20. Mural A  mural  is any piece of artwork painted directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. Murals are important in that they bring art into the public sphere. Due to the size, cost, and work involved in creating a mural, muralists must often be commissioned by a sponsor .

21. Diego Rivera's mural depicting Mexico's history at the National Palace in  Mexico City

22. The  San Bartolo  mural

23. Forest mural by  One Red Shoe  in private home, England 2007

24. Mint&Serf at  Ace Hotel , New York City

25. Jataka  tales from the  Ajanta caves , c. 200 BC - 600 BC

26. Murals depicting Hindu religious art adorn the walls of the Mattancherry Palace, kochin,kerala.

27. The murals on the ceiling of the Devasiriya mandapa of the Thyagarajaswamy temple.

28. A mural on the wall of a temple at Lepakshi near Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh.

29. Sculptures Sculpture  is  three-dimensional  artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials - typically  stone  - or  marble , metal, glass, or wood. Softer ("plastic") materials can also be used, such as  clay ,  textiles , plastics,  polymers  and softer metals. The temple architecture of the South Indian is very different from the temple architecture of the rest of India. The temple building activity of the South India can be divided three  periods corresponding to the main kingdoms, which ruled the South India for the centuries

30. South Indian Temple Sculptures Chola sculptures The features of Chola sculptures will remind one of the Dravidian art and sculpture. In fact it was the Chola rulers who properly developed this style. One of the main features of Chola architectures are the hugeness of the structures, especially the temples. Granite was widely used for the construction. Important features of the Chola temples are the lofty shikharas, square bases, ornamented gopurams, sculpted walls outer and inner walls and others. 

31. Carved miniature images of gods and goddesses are found in the recesses of the temple walls. This is a common feature of Chola sculptures. Carving out various images of deities, floral sculptures, etc were widely used to adorn the colossal Chola temples. An instance of the finest Chola architecture is the Brihadeswara or Rajarajeswara Temple in Tanjore. The principal deity in this temple is Lord Shiva. Besides the temple walls the  gopurams  are also decorated with exquisite sculpture Religion was a key influence as far as the Chola art and architectures were concerned. It was during their reign that the construction of the gopuram or gateway came into vogue. The gopurams were often quite high but these were vividly sculpted with different god and goddesses. 

32. Pallava sculptures Pallava Sculptures for the first time introduced the use of rock in Indian architecture. The Pallava sculptures came into being from the 4th to 9th centuries. It was during the Pallava reign that the rock cut architecture flourished. The earliest specimens of Pallava art and architecture date back to the 610-690 AD. The other temples, on the other hand, were constructed from 690-900 AD. In fact the rock cut caves also came into vogue during the Pallava Empire. The features of Pallava Sculptures include intricate carvings. Mammoth images were carved out of stone so that the buildings can be dedicated to the deities.

33. The Hindu epics were a popular source from which the artisans derived their subjects. These were then retold through the stone sculptures. The  sculpture of Mamallapuram  is a fine instance of the Pallava sculptures. The  Shore Temple  stands tall even today to relate the brilliance of the local craftsmanship. Another outstanding piece of art that was carved out of stone during the Pallava reign is the sculpture of Kailasanatha Temple . 

34. Shore temple ,mahabalipuram.

35. Kailashnath temple, kanchipuram.

36. Elephant caves, mahabalipuram .

37. Iconography Iconography  is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word  iconography  literally means "image writing“. Religious images are used to some extent by all major religions, including both Indian and Abrahamic  faiths, and often contain highly. Central to the iconography of Indian religions are  mudra or gestures with specific meanings. The symbolic use of colour to denote the Classical Elements  or  Mahabhuta   and letters and  bija  syllables from sacred alphabetic scripts are other features. Under the influence of  tantra  art developed esoteric meanings, accessible only to initiates; this is an especially strong feature of Tibetan art.

38. Indian Iconography

39. South indian bronze iconography: Each Hindu God sculpture is a one-of-a-kind piece, created by the artisans of Southern India who have been perfecting the art of the lost wax method of bronze casting for generations. 

40. PROJECT BY: IMAD NIHARIKA PALLAVI NARASIMHAN