Alchemy by Mapin Publishing

Alchemy

Contemporary Indian Painting and Miniature Traditions

Geeti Sen

Alchemy

Contemporary Indian Painting and Miniature Traditions

A miniature painting holds wondrous powers, beyond its defined space. A single image can summon up a world of adventures, enclosed chambers, gardens, rivers, lakes, forests, flowers, and an infinite variety of trees in bloom. Miniatures were conceived as sets of narrative illustrations based on classic texts such as the Gita Govinda, the Ramayana, the Bhagavata Purana, the Ragamala and the Rasamanjari. The representation of the nayaka and the nayika—the hero and heroine—is perhaps the most popular theme, focusing on dramatic enactment and the impermanence of emotions. Miniatures continue to hold their appeal well into the 21st century. Contemporary artists of importance have imbibed influences from miniature traditions, in technique, theme and colouration. This book explores a relationship between Indian contemporary painting and inspiration from medieval miniatures.

In this volume, the author studies the art of five significant Indian modern and contemporary artists— Abanindranath Tagore, Manjit Bawa, Waswo X. Waswo with Rakesh Vijayvargiya, and Nilima Sheikh—who have resourced and reinvented iconic traditions with different perspectives and using different techniques. Accompanied with splendid illustrations, the essays bring attention to the Indian art of today with the magical transformation of older concepts and techniques in miniature painting into contemporary practice.

With 69 illustrations

Front-cover: Blue Series-10 | Waswo X. Waswo with R. Vijay | 2018 (See p. 95)

Back-cover: Abhisarika | Abanindranath Tagore | 1897 (See p. 28)

Alchemy

Contemporary Indian Painting and Miniature Traditions

Alchemy

Contemporary Indian Painting and Miniature Traditions

Geeti Sen

First published in India in 2024 by Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd

706 Kaivanna, Panchvati, Ellisbridge

Ahmedabad 380006 INDIA

T: +91 79 40 228 228

E: mapin@mapinpub.com www.mapinpub.com

Text © Geeti Sen

Illustrations © as listed below:

Bhavna and Ravi Bawa: pp. 51, 53, 64, 66, 137

Gallery Espace: p. 142

Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh: p. 27

Indian Museum, Kolkata: Back-cover, p. 28

Los Angeles County Museum of Art: pp. 11, 20

Mahaveer Swami: pp. 133, 143 Museum Rietberg, Zurich: pp. 57, 59

Nilima Sheikh: pp. 22, 105–126, 141, 142

Nitin Bhayana Collection: pp. 12, 13

Peabody Essex Museum, Salem: p. 67

Private Collection: p. 56

Private Collection, New Delhi: pp. 4–5, 16, 52, 60, 63

Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata, India: pp. 15, 30–44, 135

Waswo X. Waswo: Front-cover, pp. 19, 72–99, 138–139

All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

The moral rights of Geeti Sen as the author of this work are asserted.

ISBN: 978-93-94501-63-8

Copyediting: Marilyn Gore / Mapin Editorial

Proofreading: Ashwati Franklin / Mapin Editorial

Editorial Management: Neha Manke / Mapin Editorial

Design: Nidhi Sah / Mapin Design Studio

Production: Mapin Design Studio

Printed in India

captions

P. 2 Gathering Threads | 2004 | Nilima Sheikh (See p. 120)

With special thanks to Waswo X. Waswo for helping make this book possible.

Sonika Soni

Foreword

Sonika Soni

Miniature paintings from India represent many traditions—all living and dynamic. While coursing through the journey of time and geographies, these traditions have shifted purpose and paradigms. The periodic resurgence or reinvention of these traditions are historical fact. They evolve out of social milieus and manifest through various idioms—for instance, the transition from palm-leaf manuscripts to Jain paper manuscripts by the 14th century, and the influence of Indic elements on Iranian painters that shaped the early Mughal phase. Later, the Mughal workshops also responded to prints and small “Western” works brought by Jesuit missionaries. Similarly, Bikaner painters of the Rajasthan school embraced the Deccan and Mughal styles, while Mewar painters created satirical firangs (portraits of foreigners).

Drawing inspiration from the haptic stylistic elements of the Mewar painter Tara, the British painter F.C. Lewis, in the mid-19th century, reproduced a durbar (court) scene of Maharana Swarup Singh. Some such noteworthy responses are also palpable through the Dutch master Rembrandt’s musing over the styles and forms of Mughal painters. In the early 20th century, the Bengal school predecessors absorbed precolonial, Far Eastern and other foreign idioms—a trend continued by many of their peers, such as Ram Gopal Vijayvargiya in Jaipur, and Ishwari Prasad in Agra. More recently, artists such as Desmond Lazaro have actively referenced both the materiality and symbolism celebrated in traditional miniatures, while Olivia Fraser has

focused on motif and spirituality in her responses. The list of such creative exchanges is extensive. This intertextuality—displayed through a range of stylistic, material, and technical components— has been a defining feature of Indian and Indiainspired miniature painting traditions, both past and present.

Miniature practices of “copying” and “repeating” are often misunderstood and underestimated, especially in Indian pedagogy, where traditional paintings are not part of practical training. Newly spotlighting the expanded field of conservation, a Pakistan-US-based professor and painter of Indian miniatures, Murad Khan Mumtaz, discussed mussavari (in Persian) or chitrakala (in Hindi) or miniature paintings (used by post-colonial practitioners and connoisseurs), as “a practice that is an embodiment of preserving knowledge.” He elucidates, “The acts of ‘copying’ and ‘repeating’ are tools for perfecting the skill and expression mastered by past artists, built into the very practice, linking modern and contemporary iterations of miniature painting with its precolonial, traditional forebearers.”1

The practice of both making and viewing Indian paintings provides a rich and potent experience, mainly because it surpasses social and religious barriers and language and gender biases. For example, in the metaphysical world of Indian paintings, Krishna and his blue complexion are not just symbolic of the Hindu religion but an epitome of love and devotion. This microcosm through

painting thematics, like the Ragamala, lend not just an emotional body, but a whole emotional world through the abstract experience of musical modes. It acts as an invisible canvas, stretching over time and space, encompassing the voices and expressions of many artists, including those discussed here by author Dr Geeti Sen.

Dr Sen is a gifted observer, capable of seeing beyond the layers of paint to decode hidden innuendos and perceive the thin line where harsh realities merge with dreamscapes. She has, above all, beautifully articulated the lives, mannerisms, beliefs and art of the iconic personalities in this book. The oeuvre of these artists is the focal point, studied under “The Reinvention of the Miniature: Abanindranath Tagore”; “Mythic Encounters: Manjit Bawa”; “Horizons of Intimacy: Waswo X. Waswo and R. Vijay”; and “Resourcing the Narrative: Nilima Sheikh”. A representative selection of artworks by these artists acts like a darshan, a mystic viewing, while the author guides us through their creative processes with a neutral but divergent perspective. The lives, times, influences and trigger points of these artists circle around Dr Sen’s discussion of the artworks, an approach that makes reading and viewing a thrilling experience. The chapters, however, are not mere biographies of the artists. In a novel and structured way, the author undertakes a study of the new “traditions” of Indian paintings developed by these modern and contemporary miniaturists. In her essays, Dr Sen keeps an eye on the past, another to the political climate, and yet another

on contemporary attitudes, to contextualize these artists. The visual impact of these emergent styles is largely marked by the appropriation and experimentation in materials and techniques, studied in a larger context by Dr Sen.

What a reader will also experience in their reinvention of these traditions are the burning hearts—either in the spirit of nationalism, feminism, existentialism or spiritualism. All the artists, deeply concerned with humanitarian issues and inspired by poetic and literary influences, use the traditional canvas to express their experiences, dreams, aspirations, and concerns against a backdrop of miniature art history. With each stroke, element and metaphor, they match precolonial vocabulary to express the sentiments of their present, at times with a witty stance, at others, with a haunting intensity. The artworks discussed do more than just engage in a dialogue with the past; they do not merely reinvent but forcefully reshape a world that has been fractured. They strike loudly at the conscience of a sleeping humanity, ironically evoking through joyous colours the pain of broken and melted hearts.

Notes

1. Murad Khan Mumtaz, “Copy|Repeat: Conserving South Asian Paintings through Practice”, in The Expanded Field of Conservation, edited by Caroline Fowler and Alexander Nagel. (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2022), 18–37.

Introduction:

Inspiration from Miniature Painting

Aminiature painting holds wondrous powers, beyond its defined space (Fig. 1.1). A single image can summon up a world of adventures, enclosed chambers, gardens, rivers, lakes, forests, flowers, and an infinite variety of trees in bloom. Encounters are real and imagined, with hand-to-hand combat, escapades, and diplomatic missions, where—in each encounter—the tension becomes palpable. Romance creates the moods of yearning, the anguish of separation and being alone, and meeting with the beloved, with every tree, the river and the lotuses contributing to the passion of the lovers. The varying moods of gods and goddesses are portrayed in their familiar surroundings and, occasionally, in unique situations.

The representation of the nayaka and the nayika, the hero and heroine, is perhaps the most popular theme, focusing on dramatic enactment and the impermanence of emotions. From these evolve illustrations for the ragamalas,1 focusing on a particular mood or rasa, in response to different emotions and situations, to the changing seasons, and the time of morning, evening or night. Another favoured theme in the different schools of Rajput paintings are the ashtanayikas, with the eight classifications of heroines, as outlined by Bharata in his treatise on the performing arts, the Natyashastra. It is extraordinary that these differing situations can be depicted on one page!

previous pages Krishna with Cows, detail (See p. 16)

Fig. 1.1 Gaudi Ragini, First Wife of Malkos Raga, Folio from a Ragamala (Garland of Melodies), Bikaner, Rajasthan | 1605–1606 with later repainting | Opaque watercolour, gold, and ink on paper | Image: 6¼ x 4½ in.; Sheet: 8½ x 6¼ in. | Los Angeles County Museum of Art, From the Nasli and Alice Heeramaneck Collection, Museum Associates Purchase (M.74.5.14)

The Reinvention of the Miniature: Abanindranath

Tagore

Abanindranath Tagore

BIefore the end of the 19th century, Abanindranath Tagore made the radical decision to return to indigenous treatment, technique and styles in Indian painting. His decision cannot be read as a signal only of the emergence of nationalism because there were distinct advantages in returning to miniature traditions. With the pungency and symbolism in colours, miniatures offered an abstract quality which could be adapted to contemporary values. Artists such as Manjit Bawa, Nilima Sheikh and Waswo X. Waswo, working in collaboration with R. Vijay, were to subsequently integrate these values with their innovations, but Abanindranath remains the pioneer who took the first step, before the closure of the 19th century. He was returning to past traditions, but he was also far ahead of his time.

The Abhisarika—the heroine on her way out to meet her lover—is among the most represented of the ashtanayikas in Rajput and Pahari painting, depicting the nayika in her moment of transgression (Fig. 2.1). She ventures far from the familiar environs of home into the world outside, braving the darkness of a stormy night, with thunder and lightning snaking through the skies. Sometimes, she crosses a forest, with venomous snakes at her bare feet… she braves it all, drawn by the magnetic compulsion of forbidden love.

previous pages Sindabad, the sailor, detail (See p. 44)

Fig. 2.1 Abhisarika Setting Out to Meet Her Lover | Kangra kalam, c. 1810–20 | Watercolour and gouache on paper | Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh (Acc. no. 339)

Mythic Encounters:

Manjit Bawa

MIyths abound in the Indian tradition on the creation of the world, miracles wrought by gods and goddesses, encounters between heroes and villains to restore order in the world. Manjit Bawa’s paintings have a particular significance in that they resource myths to create a wondrous world of symbiotic harmony.

With his youthful miracles, it is Krishna who outdoes all the gods! When he battles with the horse demon Keshi, he fights unarmed and alone; when he vanquishes Kaliya the king of serpents, he dances lightly upon the serpent’s hood. When he persuades the villagers to worship Mount Govardhan and Indra unleashes his wrath in lightning and rain, Krishna protects them by lifting the entire mountain on one little finger. Such are the stories recounted of Krishna in his youth in the Balagopala Stuti, the Bhagavata Purana and in the Hari Vamsa. They are narrated on the steps of ghats, enacted along the sacred rivers, painted on the walls and in illustrated manuscripts from the 15th to 20th centuries.

Myths about Krishna fascinated Manjit; they served as an endless source of inspiration for his paintings. From his generation of contemporary artists, he was one of the few who persisted with these myths, for several reasons (Fig. 3.1).

Primarily, it was his innate belief in restoring harmony with nature, and myths do just that. Among his other reasons was also his awareness, as he once remarked: […] the advantage of mythology is that you don’t have to complete the details. They are already known to the viewer; so you concentrate on the form, the colour, the space. You don’t want to become the slave of the narrative!

previous pages Kali, detail (See p. 64)

Fig. 3.1 Narasimha Slays the Demon Hiranyakasipu | Undated | Oil on canvas | Collection of Bhavna and Ravi Bawa

Horizons of Intimacy:

Waswo X. Waswo and R. Vijay

Waswo X. Waswo and R. Vijay

CIontemporary art is defined by the individual style of the artist and her/ his subjective vision. In contrast, miniature paintings, over the course of the preceding 500 years, were created by artists who remained largely anonymous. However, studies by notable art historians have traced the hand of individual masters including Basawan, Ustad Mansur, Muhammad Daulat, Abu’l Hasan, Manohar Das, Govardhan, Bishandas, Hashim and Bichitr in Mughal painting,1 the artists Nainsukh in Guler, Manaku in Basohli kalam in Pahari painting, and other masters in Rajasthan2 as well as painters from the Mewar court.

The collaboration between Waswo X. Waswo, an American émigré, and Rakesh Vijayvargiya—or R. Vijay, as he is known professionally—stands apart from these traditions, as being one between men from radically different cultural backgrounds. Working together from 2006 until early 2023, they have traversed scenes of narrative landscapes, encounters and intimate confessions that are at times comical and at others, poignant. Much of this has to do with Waswo’s imagined misdemeanours, his insights as a modern-day Orientalist trespassing into native lands. He is wilfully present everywhere, be it in his profession as a photographer interested in the crocodiles rather than the Lake Palace Hotel in Udaipur, or Lost (2010) and losing his lover in the desert, or spending Three Nights in Bundi (2014) under magical skies and amidst flowering trees.

previous pages In the Land of Lotus Fantasy, detail (See p. 87)

Resourcing the Narrative: Nilima Sheikh

FIew contemporary artists would like their work to be seen as “illustrations”.

The modern initiative is to conceive the work to be an original, without precedent, without history, or with as little of it as possible. The painting divulges none of its past, its sources of nourishment. It has been created from personal and interpersonal experience, and it stands on its own. Even the mediums of work are new—not on paper or canvas but from jute and hemp and rope, steel and glass, to play to new rhythms of freedom.

Nilima Sheikh does not adhere to these norms of modern achievements in art. She deliberately partakes of the past, its riches and mysteries, unfolding narratives that derive from medieval sources. She declares her willingness to explore with the words:

Illustration is a bad word in the modern lexicon, so you need to open it up. Sentiment is a bad word, you open that up; maybe even narrative is a bad word, you open that up, too. You must be constantly recharging terminals and reinvesting stereotypes. Cliches need to be re-read, re-activated, not discarded as dead wood. The loss otherwise, would only be yours.1

The truth is that all of her works are narratives. Her early paintings explore personal histories and are anecdotal. We might take as an example her series of 12 consecutive images in the series titled When Champa Grows Up (1984). They move from the beginnings of innocence, of Champa riding a bicycle or on a swing, to her marriage while still in her teens; as a young bride conversing with her wicked mother-in-law; to the tragedy of being killed by fire from the kerosene stove. She dies of burn wounds, allegedly killed by her husband’s family barely a year after she was married (Figs 5.1 to 5.11).

previous pages Bhadon 1, detail (See p. 117) Figs 5.1 to 5.11 When Champa Grows Up | 1984 | Gum tempera on wasli paper | 305 x 405 mm (12 x 16 in.) each | Courtesy: Nilima Sheikh

Contemporary Indian Painting and Miniature

Traditions

Geeti Sen

148 pages, 69 illustrations

8 x 10.25” (203 x 260 mm), sc with gatefold

ISBN: 978-93-94501-63-8

₹1500 | $25 | £20

Nov. 2024• World rights

Geeti Sen is a cultural historian, professor, art critic and editor trained at the Universities of Chicago and Calcutta. She is a prominent figure in the Indian cultural world and has been invited to speak in many parts of the world: the United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Ireland, France, Spain, Brazil and Russia. Sen was the art critic for The Times of India in Mumbai and the Assistant Editor at Marg, the prestigious art journal from Mumbai. Later, she was the art critic for India Today, New Delhi. From 1990 to 2006, Sen was appointed the Chief Editor at the India International Centre, New Delhi. In 2009, she was selected as the first Director of the Indian Cultural Centre in Kathmandu, Nepal, by the Government of India.

Sen is the author of several books, including Paintings from the Akbar Nama: A Visual Chronicle of Mughal India (1984), Feminine Fables: Imaging the Indian Woman in Painting, Photography and Cinema (2002), Revelations: Ganesh Pyne (2002), Your History Gets in the Way of My Memory (2012) and Bindu: Space and Time in Raza’s Vision (1992, reprint 2020).

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