In the Maharaja's Court
Royal Paintings from Northern India
- February 21 2020 - May 22 2021
- Curator: Miriam Malachi
On display are some fifty portraits from the royal courts of the Indian Rajas and the Muslim and Mughal Sultanates who ruled north-western India from the sixteenth to nineteenth centuries. These works reflect the role of art as a means of conveying messages of supremacy, military power, knowledge, and wealth, as well as offering a glimpse into this complex world of the kingdoms and empires of this complex chapter in India's history. Painters who moved from court to court incorporated different traditions in their works, including local, Persian, and European techniques. In addition to portraits of rulers, this exhibition displays scenes from court life: royal meetings in ornate palaces, hunting expeditions, and portraits of the palace women. The paintings are accompanied by a small group of photographs of rulers from the nineteenth to early twentieth century, the modern equivalent of the royal portrait brought to India by the British.
Lady of the Court, Kishangarth, 1760–70, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Bequest of Mr. Wolf Ladejinsky, Washington DC, through the American-Israel Cultural Foundation
Chand Bibi, Regent of Bijapur (ruled 1580–90), Murshidabad, ca. 1780, Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
Bequest of Alan Flacks, Monte Carlo
Equestrian portrait of Maharaja, Mewar, 1800–1810, Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
Bequest of Wolf Ladejinsky, Washington, DC through American-Israel Cultural Foundation
Lady of the court serving wine on a palace terrace, Kishangar, c.1830, Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
Bequest of Wolf Ladejinsky, Washington, DC, through the America-Israel Cultural Foundation
Maharajah Sir Singh on his palace veranda, Kishangarh, ca. 1760, Ink, opaque watercolor, silver, and gold on paper
Bequest of Wolf Ladejinsky, Washington, DC, through the America-Israel Cultural Foundation
Maharaja Ravat Pritha Singh and a party of dignitaries, Pratapgarh, 1717, Ink, opaque watercolor, and gold on paper
Bequest of Mr. Wolf Ladejinsky, Washington DC, through the American-Israel Cultural Foundation
Maharaja Dip Singh of Kapren (ruled 1760-?) hunting boar, Bundi, ca. 1775, Ink, opaque watercolor and gold on paper
Bequest of Mr. Wolf Ladejinsky, Washington DC, through the American-Israel Cultural Foundation
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