Art exhibition: A royal display
Sir Howard Hodgkin brings together a selection of Mughal paintings from his personal collection
Autumn in Bombay, 2010–14, oil on wood. PHOTOS COURTESY: HOLMES PR
Considering Britain’s colonial past in the South Asian subcontinent, it is not altogether surprising that a prominent British artist has amassed a major collection of Indian art. Currently on display in Toronto at the Aga Khan Museum, the Mughal painting collection of contemporary artist Sir Howard Hodgkin has been put together over a span of 50 years.
Hodgkin, who is known for his abstract paintings laden with heavy impasto and painted frames, offers a unique glimpse into a collection which has been edited with an artist’s eye and taste. While his practice bears similarity to that of abstract expressionists, he is not, nor has been, linked with any particular art movement, choosing to remain independent.
Even though his work appears to be ‘abstract’, he refrains from identifying his work with the term and, instead, says that it portrays ‘feelings’, in order to evoke an emotional response from the viewer. Born in London in 1932, Hodgkin was introduced to Indian art by one of his teachers when he was a student at Eton College. He was shown a Mughal-era painting of a chameleon from 1612. Later, he began collecting art during his regular visits to India and won the first Swarovski Whitechapel Art Icon award last year.
The display of his labours is being shown at the Aga Khan Museum till June 21. The exhibition, titled ‘Visions of Mughal India: The Collection of Howard Hodgkin’, consists of 60 works from Hodgkin’s personal collection and also includes a small number of Indian paintings from the Aga Khan Museum’s permanent collection. It is being held in tandem with a show of paintings by Hodgkin himself, dating 1970 to 2014. A similar exhibition was held in 2012 at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, where a collection of about 115 paintings is housed and cared for.
The paintings from Hodgkin’s Indian collection represent the major styles of Indian art and show how Persian and European art impacted Indian Mughal paintings. As per tradition, a majority of them are works on cloth and paper. He has collected the paintings according to their colour, line and texture and they are displayed according to themes, including Flora and Fauna, Elephants in Combat, A Journey to the Palace, Portraits, Dancing Ladies and the Ragamala Series, which represents the musical modes of North India.
Perhaps the most obvious connection linking Hodgkin’s own work with his collection is the bright use of colour. Vibrant colours awash Hodgkin’s canvases just as they are so often imbued in Mughal paintings, particularly evident in the Dancing Ladies and Elephants in Combat categories. One such painting, A Court Beauty (1805-1810), depicts a stylised female court dancer with a small toddler pulling at her hips. The painting hails from Rajasthan and was likely patronised by the court of Deogarh.
There are several other striking artworks on display. One of them, from Rajasthan, is a portrait of Maharaja Bakhat Singh of Nagaur, circa 1735. This particular painting shows the inventive side of Mughal-era paintings with its decorated and patterned surfaces. The scene depicted is that of the Maharaja standing by the window, showing himself to the public. He is holding a flower to note his intelligence as well as to signify he is a man of high tastes. Another artwork, showing European influence, is the 19th Century portraiture study of Emperor Bahadur Shah. A likely work in progress, the watercolour on paper shows the emperor in a three-quarter view rather than the typical profile which is common in Mughal paintings. The painting uses naturalism drawn from the European style, depicting wrinkles and other facial features, signalling the emperor is an old man at the helm of a dying empire. He was the last Mughal emperor before the British-owned East India Company took power.
Hodgkin’s collection is not all portraits. There are several highly-detailed paintings which depict crowds, telling stories from long ago. One brush drawing of particular measure is of Maharaja Raj Singh with his elephants parading around him during a bird hunt. The artist plays with scale, emphasising the importance of the Maharaja by drawing him and his elephant larger than the princes and hunters who surround him.
Overall, the collection summarises a history of Mughal-era paintings which span genres from the stylised to the naturalistic. Hodgkin’s eye truly captures the essence of Mughal paintings, offering insight into a collection once kept behind closed doors.
Carol Khan is a Peshawar-based subeditor at The Express Tribune. She tweets @carolkhn
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, May 3rd, 2015.
Hodgkin, who is known for his abstract paintings laden with heavy impasto and painted frames, offers a unique glimpse into a collection which has been edited with an artist’s eye and taste. While his practice bears similarity to that of abstract expressionists, he is not, nor has been, linked with any particular art movement, choosing to remain independent.
The Emperor Bahadur Shah, Delhi, India, 1855–58, opaque watercolour on paper. PHOTOS COURTESY: HOLMES PR
Even though his work appears to be ‘abstract’, he refrains from identifying his work with the term and, instead, says that it portrays ‘feelings’, in order to evoke an emotional response from the viewer. Born in London in 1932, Hodgkin was introduced to Indian art by one of his teachers when he was a student at Eton College. He was shown a Mughal-era painting of a chameleon from 1612. Later, he began collecting art during his regular visits to India and won the first Swarovski Whitechapel Art Icon award last year.
The display of his labours is being shown at the Aga Khan Museum till June 21. The exhibition, titled ‘Visions of Mughal India: The Collection of Howard Hodgkin’, consists of 60 works from Hodgkin’s personal collection and also includes a small number of Indian paintings from the Aga Khan Museum’s permanent collection. It is being held in tandem with a show of paintings by Hodgkin himself, dating 1970 to 2014. A similar exhibition was held in 2012 at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, where a collection of about 115 paintings is housed and cared for.
The paintings from Hodgkin’s Indian collection represent the major styles of Indian art and show how Persian and European art impacted Indian Mughal paintings. As per tradition, a majority of them are works on cloth and paper. He has collected the paintings according to their colour, line and texture and they are displayed according to themes, including Flora and Fauna, Elephants in Combat, A Journey to the Palace, Portraits, Dancing Ladies and the Ragamala Series, which represents the musical modes of North India.
Maharaja Raj Singh and His Elephants, Sawar, Rajasthan, India, 1710–15, brush drawing with pigment on paper. PHOTOS COURTESY: HOLMES PR
Perhaps the most obvious connection linking Hodgkin’s own work with his collection is the bright use of colour. Vibrant colours awash Hodgkin’s canvases just as they are so often imbued in Mughal paintings, particularly evident in the Dancing Ladies and Elephants in Combat categories. One such painting, A Court Beauty (1805-1810), depicts a stylised female court dancer with a small toddler pulling at her hips. The painting hails from Rajasthan and was likely patronised by the court of Deogarh.
There are several other striking artworks on display. One of them, from Rajasthan, is a portrait of Maharaja Bakhat Singh of Nagaur, circa 1735. This particular painting shows the inventive side of Mughal-era paintings with its decorated and patterned surfaces. The scene depicted is that of the Maharaja standing by the window, showing himself to the public. He is holding a flower to note his intelligence as well as to signify he is a man of high tastes. Another artwork, showing European influence, is the 19th Century portraiture study of Emperor Bahadur Shah. A likely work in progress, the watercolour on paper shows the emperor in a three-quarter view rather than the typical profile which is common in Mughal paintings. The painting uses naturalism drawn from the European style, depicting wrinkles and other facial features, signalling the emperor is an old man at the helm of a dying empire. He was the last Mughal emperor before the British-owned East India Company took power.
Hodgkin’s collection is not all portraits. There are several highly-detailed paintings which depict crowds, telling stories from long ago. One brush drawing of particular measure is of Maharaja Raj Singh with his elephants parading around him during a bird hunt. The artist plays with scale, emphasising the importance of the Maharaja by drawing him and his elephant larger than the princes and hunters who surround him.
Overall, the collection summarises a history of Mughal-era paintings which span genres from the stylised to the naturalistic. Hodgkin’s eye truly captures the essence of Mughal paintings, offering insight into a collection once kept behind closed doors.
Carol Khan is a Peshawar-based subeditor at The Express Tribune. She tweets @carolkhn
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, May 3rd, 2015.