Saturday, October 11, 2008

Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur


What a fine day we had in DC today, weather wise that is. While the financial world's economic ministers met today to figure out what the **** is going on, a wonderful exhibition opened at the Sackler Museum.

From Art Daily, "WASHINGTON, DC.- This fall, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery will introduce an astonishing exhibition of newly discovered Indian paintings from the royal court collection of Marwar-Jodhpur. "Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur," will be on display from Oct. 11, 2008, to Jan. 4, 2009, before continuing on international tour through December 2009.

The exhibition is organized by the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery in collaboration with the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, India. It has received support from Air India, The Boeing Co., the Leon Levy Foundation, the Friends of the Freer and Sackler Galleries and the Embassy of India to the United States.

Marwar-Jodhpur, the largest of the former Rajput kingdoms (in the modern state of Rajasthan), was ruled by the Rathore Rajputs, a princely caste of warriors who became great patrons of art in the 17th to19th centuries. Produced for the private enjoyment of the Marwar-Jodhpur maharajas, virtually none of the 60 works on view in "Garden and Cosmos" have ever been published or seen by scholars since their creation centuries ago. Strikingly innovative in their large scale, subject matter and styles, they reveal both the conceptual sophistication of the royal atelier and the kingdom's engagement with the changing political landscapes of early modern India."
The full review here.

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