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*Migration Histories > South Asian > Origins
* Stylistic Crossover 
 
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A painter from an album of 53 drawings depicting occupations
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A painter from an album of 53 drawings depicting occupations
Indian artists were willing to create new works targeted at the taste of the Europeans who favored watercolor paintings. Both subject matter and style were influenced by the English representational watercolor paintings and prints that were brought to India. Artists gradually switched from heavy Indian opaque paints to light water-colour paints. The result is a type of painting with a blend of Indian and British styles, and an attempt by Indian artists to meet European demands for accurate depictions of subjects. The bright colors traditionally used in Indian miniature paintings were replaced with soft blue, green and brown tones.


Records of the Past

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The Taj Mahal, Agra from the river Jumna from a series of 60 drawing of Mughal monuments.
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The Taj Mahal, Agra from the river Jumna from a series of 60 drawing of Mughal monuments. The drawings are recorded as being by 'native draughtsmen of the Delhi School in the Office of the East India Company'.
* Moving Here catalogue reference (V&A) 1130-1869
Company paintings can be used as historical documentation of origins of the people of India. Monuments and their surroundings as they were in the past can now only be visualized through these paintings. The Taj Mahal complex, as depicted in the 1830s, is bursting with trees which no longer exist. Through these paintings we are able to have a glimpse of India through Indian eyes of the 1800s. Company paintings for the British continued throughout the 19th century until the introduction of photography in India in the 1840s, which gradually took over.

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Creators: Sarah Paul

 
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