A few beautifully crafted lines

An exceptional group of Indian paintings and drawings has been added to the Art Gallery of New South Wales collection thanks to author, scholar and curator Dr Jim Masselos’ generous donation of works he has collected over many years.

Created between the 16th and early 20th centuries, the works are representative of the great traditions of Mughal and Rajput painting, as well as vernacular, folk and Company school painting. From the north in the Punjab Hills to the south in Tamil Nadu, the collection reflects historical changes in dynastic administration and religious plurality in India, with subjects ranging from portraits to records of daily life, celebrations of festive occasions and religious icons for domestic worship.

Dr Masselos first travelled to India in 1961 to commence his PhD on the history of Indian nationalism under the Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowship Plan. Arriving in the city of Mumbai (Bombay), he remembers that travel in India was primarily an experience of architecture rather than painting, but sometimes temples, palaces and shopfronts would reveal themselves as sites of prolific artistic production, or as private galleries. Remembering Rajasthani palaces, he retells how in some rooms, walls would be entirely covered with paintings, while in others a single portrait of the maharaja could be found discreetly placed in a small niche. When it came to collecting, he was not guided by historical or academic concerns but rather the sheer delight at the evocative beauty of line and colour found in many Indian miniatures.

As an art historian and curator, Dr Masselos reminds us that the role of the patron is very important to an understanding of Indian paintings. With every type of patron – whether imperial, merchant or religious – new genres of painting developed in association with new palaces, temples or business enterprises. In fact, artists developed new styles of painting using different materials and compositional devices, sometimes to depict very similar subject matter.

For example, the following three recently donated works exemplify different approaches to painting yet all express a shared joy for the idiom of musical enchantment.

Snake charmer c1780 – which is inscribed No 36, A man who catches and tames snakes Malabar – was once part of a large series, made to satiate the tastes of newly arrived British patrons in the city of Thanjavur (Tanjore) in Southern India. Characteristic of the genre, a man and woman representative of an occupation are set against a flat background. Drama and popular appeal are ensured through the flattening of space, a vibrant palette and angular shadows.

Painters who were working for British patrons would have just a few decades earlier worked in the provincial Mughal courts of northern India. Although Muslim, many of the Mughal patrons showed an interest in Hindu spiritual narratives and thematic paintings. Equally, provincial rulers enjoyed art and entertainment and the combination of music, poetry and image found in the form of Ragamala’s paintings (garland of melodies) designed to accompany song. The Asavari ragini c1760 is from a Ragamala series and shows a female ascetic sitting on a rocky outcrop, playing a pungi flute to charm snakes.

The Bhagavata Purana is a Hindu epic poem that tells the story of Krishna the divine cowherd. In a scene from the narrative, Krishna plays music to enraptured gopis (milkmaids). Tending to the cows, Krishna lifts his staff, which is also a flute, and plays in such an enchanting way as to draw the gopis into his divine sphere, symbolising the union of the individual soul (atma) with the supreme being – the great soul.

The Art Gallery is already fortunate to hold the Jim Masselos South Asia Archive, acquired in 2011 and housed in the Art Gallery’s National Art Archive, as well as a group of textiles, paintings, prints and photographs donated between 2001 and 2011. Adding to this, Dr Masselos’ recent donation of these exquisite and important works makes the Art Gallery’s collection of Indian paintings one of the most significant in the country.

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