Osian's Auction Catalogue Creative India Series 1 Bengal | December 2011

a nonymous a rTisT from mid 19 TH CenTury B engal rani Upon Bejewelled Canopy with attendants Oil on canvas, Mid 19th century 12.4 x 16.2 in (31.5 x 41.0 cm) Condition Cracks present, edges frayed. Minor tears on t.r. and l.l. Provenance Old Zamindar Family Collection of Posta Rajbari, Kolkata. ` 500,000 – 750,000 US$ 10,000 – 15,000 Antiquity / A.S.I. Registered Non-Exportable Item 14 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830 1840 1850 1860 1870 1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2011 Creative India BENGaL | The Early-Bengal Oils 37 36 “An interesting piece of information on the existence of early ‘academic’ oils in Bengal may be found in the pages of Samachar-Darpan, published in 1829. This report mentions publication of a book offering lessons in the art of oil painting…The report also mentions the growing need of local artisans who wish to paint images of gods and goddesses for private chapels of local households but could hardly do it well due to lack of avenues to learn how to paint in oil realistically. This preference is further echoed in the writing of Dr. Ajit Ghosh a century later. He wrote, in 1926 “… In the 19th century, owing to a perverse preference for Western Art, the hereditary painters, chiefly in the larger cities, were induced by their patrons to produce pictures of mythological subjects on canvas in oil colour – a medium quite foreign to their art. These pictures are still to be found in old homes, especially in Calcutta’… Closer examination of these paintings reveal a possibility of sub-dividing these paintings into three categories based on stylistic excellence. These are: 1. Early varieties with marked emphasis of inherited skill of miniature painting and lack of familiarity with the foreign ‘oil’ medium. These are datable between 1800 and 1850. 2. Maturity of ‘academic’ skill and excellence of execution is the main feature of the second group. Perfect use of ‘perspective’ and realistic rendering of the subject in smooth ‘academic’ finish in paintings belonging to this group clearly demonstrates the peak of excellence attained between 1850 and 1900. 3. Paintings belonging to the third category are those with marked deterioration in academic quality along with attempts to step out of ‘iconographic’ rules to paint invented varieties of popular themes. Rapid brushwork, in place of ‘academic’ smoothness, is another notable feature of such paintings done probably during the first decades of the 20th century. This school of early academic oils on religious and mythological themes, with evidence of inherited ‘miniaturist’ skill is now known as ‘Early-Bengal Oils’ It has its close predecessor in the ‘Qajar’ school of Persia and had paved the way of establishing ‘Academic Art’ of the western variety in Calcutta.” [Ratan Parimoo & Nalini Bhagwat, rpt. In Parimoo, Ratan & Sandip Sarkar [Eds.] [2009]. Historical Development of Contemporary Indian Art. New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi; pp.101-2]