Art History 6

Art of India

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Gray area is India as compared to Europa, Egypt, Mesopotamia and China. Timeline by Jacob Voorthuis www.voorthuis.net

Map of Ancient India Ind

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Map from www.studentsfriend.com

Ancient India is in the center of this map which shows its relationship to China, Europe and Africa

Characteristics of Indian Art

•The arts play a critical role in Indian life. Art helped release people from the physical surroundings

•Indian art stresses interconnectivity of the arts.

•Buddhist and Hindu philosophies play a role in the art of India

•Most rulers of India supported the arts and was an active patron of the arts.

•Artists were trained as apprentices in workshops with a master artist

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For an excellent slide show of Ancient Indian art, visit this web site:

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/01/india-ancient-art/behl-photography

Indian stone carving. GNU image, Jyotiryama, photographer

Indian Folk Art

•The montage image to the left is from Columbia University professor, Frances W. Pritchett’s web site.

•The image shows Indian metalworking, enameling, embroidery, weaving and painting as well as illuminated manuscript pages.

•The three images on the bottom are pages from an illuminated manuscript.

•All of these arts are typical folk arts of India. All show colorful detail and pattern.

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Indian Painting

•The first Indian paintings are rock paintings and said to be from 5,500 BC.

•Many of the colors used in Indian paintings came from minerals

•Frescoes were painted in the monumental “caves” that were built in India. Those caves were excavations into the rock hillside and had incredible detailed sculpture carved into them

•The paintings of India represent Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain philosophies as well as religious harmony

•Many of the earliest paintings did not survive but there are writings from the period which describe the paintings

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Nagpur, Todi Ragini, late 18th century, opaque watercolor on paper. www.maaa.org from Miniature Worlds exhibit

Indian Batik Painting

•Batik art dates back about 1,000 to India. It involves applying a substance that will resist dye to a fabric, then dipping the fabric in dye to color parts of the fabric. The resisting substance is removed and another coat applied. The fabric is dipped in another color of dye. The number of colors in the artwork determine the steps in the process.

•In contemporary America, students use wax as the substance to resist the dye. It is removed with heat. In India, other substances and methods are used for batik.

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Batik painting www.shalinlife.com

Indian Architecture•The Taj Mahal is probably the best known building in historical India.

•The Taj Mahal is in Agra, India

•It is a mausoleum. In fact, it is the most famous mausoleum in the world. A mausoleum is a type of tomb.

•It was built by the Mughal Emperor Shan Jahan in memory of his wife

•Construction on the Taj Mahal began in 1632

•The basic style is Persian. It is Muslim art.

•Much of the building is white marble

•Calligraphy is written on the building with inlaid jasper

•It truly is an incredible building. Read more about it at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taj_Mahal

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Dhirad photographer, Creative Commons free use image

Indian Architecture - StupaSTUPA is a mound like structure containing Buddhist relics

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The Great Stupa at Sanchi, India. Photo by Gerald Anfossi, creative common image.

•Originally a stupa was simply a mound of mud or clay covering Buddhist relics or remains.

•It is said that there are 8-10 original stupas which were used after the parinirvana of the Buddha to conceal his remains.

•Nirvana (basically) means being at peace, free of suffering and rebirth.

•The shape of Stupas changed over the years.

•There are 8 different kinds of Stupas, each referring to events of the Buddha’s life.

•Stupas have 5 basic parts which are symbolic.

•Pagodas of East Asia derived from the Stupa.

Indian Sculpture

•Stone and bronze carvings are the earliest sculpture known from India.

•As in painting and other arts of India, the mystical dance-like figures, gods and goddesses, and symbols are frequently depicted in sculpture.

•The art and culture of India influenced much of Asia and other parts of the world.

•Sculptures as well as intricately carved panels can be found in the temples and caves of India

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Bronze, Chola period, creative commons image, Nataraja from Wikimedia. L to R: Parvati, Shiva and Vishnu

Indian Art

•Indian art encompasses a huge amount of work over thousands of years.

•Although the art developed and changed over those years, many aspects remained the same.

•Two of the things you need to remember about Indian art are the intricate detail and the mystic qualities.

•To the right, below, you see an Indian miniature painting. Miniature paintings are a whole category of Indian art. Sometimes those miniatures are the actual size of what you see here.

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Image from www.scu.edu “Miniature Worlds: Art from India

This Indian miniature painting is from around 1780. The artist is

Hyderabad, Andhra http://nga.gov.au