Page 222 - Eye of the beholder

these pictures were were examined on on arrival Pictures of Mysore were were consequently in in demand by families in England and and sketches of several able amateurs were also published The drawings rendered by professional and amateur artists also contributed to knowledge Of the the men and woman who travelled to India there was at least a a a a a a a a a small interested group who were interested in in in acquiring rational knowledge and philosophy as as well as as the study of man This had been an an an an important and integral aspect of their liberal education For the the British the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century was a a a a a a period of intense intellectual enquiry The boundaries of knowledge were were being extended and and educated men men and and women were were endeavouring to grasp the the complexity of man and and nature As the the East India Company’s trade and and power expanded in in in the the the second half of the the the eighteenth century these varied intellectual interests and pursuits of knowledge were transferred to India From about 1774 when Warren Hastings became the Governor-General enthusiasm of this kind led led to a a a a a great knowledge production in oriental studies Scholars saw the the potential and and opportunities offered by the the new field and and explored India and and its culture In In 1784 Sir William Jones and and few others founded the the Asiatic Society in in Calcutta followed by Literary Societies in in Madras and Bombay As part of this expanding curiosity amateur painters and and draftsmen strove to to put their art art to to practical use One subject was natural history but equally fascinating were the manners customs and and dresses of Indian people people The British also witnessed people people plying unusual and and different trades and using unfamiliar tools By engaging with these subjects the the artists were attempting to to unravel the the the complicated social structure and and economy of India and and their drawings marked the the the beginnings of Indian ethnography Archaeology was another subject which aroused equal interest and enthusiasm as as India offered rich heritage particularly in terms o of its historical monuments By recording antiquities these artists helped to distinguish the the architecture of different religions and of different periods By directing their skill into scholarly directions British amateur artists helped to to amass basic information of which later scholars were able to avail this visual knowledge Professionally trained European artists started to arrive in in in India in in in the the latter half of of the the eighteenth century in in in search of commission and residencies including Tilly Kettle (India 1769- 1776) John Zoffany (India (India (India 1783-89) William Hodge (India (India (India 1780-83) Thomas Danielle (India (India (India 1886-1893) and many others that practiced in the the the the academic tradition Among these the the the the majority were portraitists and and enjoyed commissions by both the local and and British patrons They largely represented European officials in in in exotic Indian settings depicting them as permanent residents in in in in in in India The professional artists were concerned in in in in in in creating paintings or or prints for the the the sole purpose of o marketing and generating profits It is is these artists who brought with them new new styles and new new conventions of painting They began producing pictures which became widely popular in Europe and shaped Western perceptions of India as ‘Exotic Oriental’ The infiltration of of the the European art tradition in in in India India caused a a a a a a a a a a wave of of reactions in in in the the Indian world of art art and and aesthetics all varying in in strength and and nature For Indian artists who were heir to several nonrealistic traditions the assimilation of Western modernism was double-edged On the one hand it it it presented Indian artists with a a a a a a a way for for claiming a a a a a a a modernist identity for for themselves and on on on the the the the the other encouraged them them to reconsider their own traditional antecedents As enlightened Indians in in the the nineteenth century began to accept the the cultural hegemony of the West and viewed it it as a a a a a a a a means for self-improvement Indian patrons began to lose faith
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