Ravishing Rajasthani art

A commendable endeavour by the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum to highlight and provide insight into the Rajasthani school of art, writes Koeli Mukherjee.

September 24, 2015 04:26 pm | Updated 04:26 pm IST - HYDERABAD

fr

fr

HYDERABAD: The parting monsoon unveils two books published by the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of India Art on the subject of Rajasthani Drawing and Rajasthani Paintings. The initiative calls to mind the mystery of man’s creativity and the wonderment to its beholder; a foundation of man’s desire to understand ensues. And indeed the study of our cultural traditions leads us to our innate self-belief; reinforce the distinctiveness of our activities.

The hard bound books with coloured images calibrated with the original works and an extensive bibliography gives an insight to the history, culture and narratives through the prevalent practice of drawings and paintings of the Rajasthani school.

The Rajasthani Drawing in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art jointly authored by Andrew Topsfield and Jagdish Mittal and Rajasthani Paintings in the Jagdish and Kamla Mittal Museum of Indian Art, edited by John Seyller, is expounded through essays by five scholars — Milo Cleveland Beach, Catherine Glynn, Andrew Topsfield, John Seyller and Jagdish Mittal. Both the books present the Mittal Museum’s holdings of drawings and paintings from Rajasthan, known to be the finest of their kind in the world. The collection was formed with a discerning eye and cultivated understanding of the couple Jagdish Mittal and his wife, Kamla, who met in Shantiniketan, while they were students at Kala Bhavan.

As trained artists, they were quick to distinguish the proximity to perfection and descriptive ingenuity of these drawings, as well as the competence they had to shed light on the original method of making these works from start to finish. The books introduce the readers to extensive research by the authorities on Rajasthani art. As a result, the text offers an insightful understanding of the style and aesthetic quality of this school of drawing and painting with examples from Ajmer, Bikaner, Devgarh, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Sawar, and Kishangarh.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.