Two Centuries of Indian Paintings on Display at Harvard's Arthur M. Sackler Museum through December 7

"Where Traditions Meet: Painting in India from the 15th through the 17th Century" illustrates the Mughal influence on the art of Northwestern India

CAMBRIDGE, MA (June 9, 2003) - Paintings from the Harvard University Art Museums' extensive collection of Indian Art are on display at Harvard's Arthur M. Sackler Museum from June 5 to December 7, 2003 in an exhibition titled Where Traditions Meet: Painting in India from the 15th through the 17th Century.

The exhibition features 35 carefully chosen works that will allow visitors to see how Indian painting evolved through its contact with the Mughals, an Islamic dynasty that ruled the Indian subcontinent from 1526 to 1827. These artworks illustrate their makers' creative response to the foreign influence of Persian art and architecture while maintaining continuities with traditional Indian painting. Contrasting with the works from the Mughal period are pre-Mughal paintings and manuscript illustrations from the Hindu kingdoms of Rajasthan, which feature the bold color fields and heavily outlined, flat, stylized human figures characteristic of Indian art.

"When we think of Indian art, words such as 'eternal' or 'changeless' come to mind," said Marjorie B. Cohn, acting director of the Harvard University Art Museums. "This exhibition challenges and investigates this notion by presenting paintings that demonstrate a surprising degree of experimentation and innovation, even as they attest to the perseverance of older traditions."

Where Traditions Meet grew out of a course in Indian painting taught by Pramod Chandra, George P. Bickford Professor of Indian and South Asian Art at Harvard. It was organized by Kimberly Masteller, assistant curator of Islamic and Later Indian art, Ph.D. candidates Alexander Keefe and James McHugh, and graduate student Mary Slevin. Three of the works in the exhibition are on loan from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

The exhibition is "an instructive introduction to the subject" of Indian painting, said Chandra, and is ideal for students and others who have a serious interest in Indian art. Detailed information about the paintings may also be found on the Internet at www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/sites/indianpaintings/.

Small but Exquisite
Many of the paintings in the exhibition are from illustrated manuscripts of poetry, religious writings, or Hindu mythology. These works are often very small but exquisite, tightly packed with rich color, precise brushwork, and luminous gold accents. One outstanding example is a miniature by Anvari that depicts two literary gentlemen enjoying poetry while having a picnic in a tree house as a servant cooks kebabs on a fire below. (Anvari Entertains in a Summer House: Folio from a Divan of Anvari, Punjab, Pakistan, 1588, Mughal. Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper.)

One of the most unusual elements in the show is a painted palm-leaf fragment from an 11th or 12th-century Buddhist manuscript produced during the Pala Dynasty (760-1142) in eastern India. Because palm leaves are so degradable, very few survive, and this one offers a clear antecedent to the luxurious 14th- and 15th-century illustrations on display from the sacred texts of the Jain religion.

In addition, there is a page from an early Bhagavata Purana manuscript, circa 1540, that illustrates a religious text about the various lives and activities of the Hindu god Vishnu. This manuscript page is famous for demonstrating the vibrant indigenous painting style that evolved in India before Mughal rule. This painting creatively interweaves two scenes in the story of King Kamsa's attempts to kill the divine child, Krishna.

"This exhibition sheds new light on a narrow but critical period of India's aristocratic history," said Masteller, the assistant curator of Islamic and Later Indian Art. "As various cultures, religions, and political influences intermingled during the 15th through 17th century, they gave rise to new bases of patronage, new subjects, and new styles. The paintings in this show will not only illustrate how South Asia served as a crossroads for these various traditions, but also how the traditions took root, co-evolved, and redefined Indian art."

The Harvard University Art Museums have one of the West's best teaching collections of Later Indian Art, thanks to generous gifts from many benefactors, including John Kenneth Galbraith, who gave Harvard 90 Rajput masterpieces he acquired while serving as the U.S. ambassador to India, and former curator Stuart Cary Welch, who in 1999 donated more than 300 works of Indian art. The collection also benefited enormously from gifts by Philip Hofer, who donated more than 280 works of art from South Asia, and John Goelet, who gave 159 works from India and Central Asia.

About the Harvard University Art Museums
The Harvard University Art Museums are one of the world's leading arts institutions, with the Arthur M. Sackler, Busch-Reisinger, and Fogg art museums, the Straus Center for Conservation, and the U.S. headquarters for the Archaeological Exploration of Sardis, an excavation project in western Turkey.

The Harvard University Art Museums are distinguished by the range and depth of their collections, their groundbreaking exhibitions, and the original research of their staff. As an integral part of the Harvard community, the three art museums serve as a resource for all students, adding a special dimension to their areas of study. The public is welcome to experience the collections and exhibitions as well as to enjoy lectures, symposia, and other programs.

For more than a century, the Harvard University Art Museums have been the nation's premier training ground for museum professionals and scholars and are renowned for their role in the development of the discipline of art history in this country.

Location and Hours
The Fogg Art Museum and the Busch-Reisinger Museum are located at 32 Quincy Street in Cambridge. The Arthur M. Sackler Museum is located next door at 485 Broadway. Each Museum is a short walk from the Harvard Square MBTA station.

Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday 1 - 5 p.m.; the Museums are closed on national holidays. Admission is $6.50; $5 for seniors; $5 for students; and free for those under 18 years of age. The Museums are free to everyone Saturday mornings, 10 a.m. - noon. The Harvard University Art Museums receive support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. More detailed information is available at 617-495-9400 or on the Internet at www.artmuseums.harvard.edu.

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For more information on this appointment or the Harvard University Art Museums, please contact:

Matthew Barone
Harvard University Art Museums
tel 617-495-2397; fax 617-496-9762
mbarone@fas.harvard.edu

or

Kim Gilbert/Allison Derusha
Resnicow Schroeder Associates
tel 212-671-5157; fax 212-595-8354
kgilbert@resnicowschroeder.com
aderusha@resnicowschroeder.com