Page 258 - Eye of the beholder

By now I I had a a a a a a a a a sizeable collection of of books monographs and catalogs of of works by the Daniells I I also owned quite a a a a a few interesting aquatints published by them Was it it time now for me me to to move to to the the next level and own own an an an original work by the the Daniells I asked myself? For me me at at at that time the the very aspiration to own own an an an original work still seemed to verge on the border of temerity The paintings were expensive and rarely came to the the market The The only times I had seen them so far were in museums – The The National Gallery of Modern Art in in in in Delhi and the the Victoria Memorial in in in in Calcutta But the the idea of owning an an an original Daniell was powerful enough for me me me to to start getting consumed by it it Though the possibility of owning a a a painting seemed too remote to be realistic I started keeping a a a a a a a watch on on the the secondary market throughout the the world just in in case a a a a a a work popped up somewhere Luck favored the the prepared mind the the second time around when after about 6 months of patient watching this monochrome painting by the Daniells came up for auction at at at a a a a a a a a a small provincial auction house in in England The The Daniells arrived in in in India by the way of China and reached Calcutta Calcutta in in in 1786 The The approach to Calcutta Calcutta was the the the last leg leg of of of the the the journey journey from England after a a a a a a a a period of of of stay in in fin China The final leg leg of of of the the the journey journey to Calcutta was by boat across the the the Bay of Bengal and up the the the Hoogly river near the the the Sunderban delta The Daniells were evidently fascinated by the the the tropical vegetation of the the the region region as as scenes from these regions feature prominently in in their book ‘A picturesque journey to India’ (Figure 1) Their epic journey through India started a a a a a a a a a full two two years years after landing in in Calcutta These two two years years were spent in in in in building a a a a cash reserve sufficient enough to fund their their planned journey During this time their their main project project was was the publication of of of a a a a a a a a set set of of of twelve aquatints of of of Calcutta The project project was was beset with problems not the the the the the the least of which was the the the the the the fact that the the the the the the Daniells themselves were inexperienced in in the the the the the the rather new and difficult technique of aquatinting To ameliorate this they had to to train and recruit local craftsmen which added to to the the difficulty The project progressed slowly and the the Daniells also took on on minor commissions for cleaning and restoring pictures during time The journey that the Daniells undertook throughout India actually occurred in in mainly two different episodes (Figure 2) The first part of the the journey journey was broadly speaking a a a a a a journey journey through northern India including the the Himalayas all the the way up to Garhwal undertaken between September 1788 and November 1791 It is the the second part of of their trip that is is of of more cerebral relevance to to this story After recuperating in in Calcutta for a a a a a a few months after the the the the the end of of the the the the the first part of of their journey the the the the the Daniells were poised to undertake another journey journey to the the the the the south of of the the the the the country During the the the the the internecine period of of the the the the the two journeys which they were spending in in in in in Calcutta they exhibited and and sold about 150 paintings and and drawings of of their trip of of the the the north 252