Two historic exhibitions organised by DAG – ‘Birds of India: Company Paintings c. 1800 to 1835’, and ‘New Found Lands: The Indian Landscape from Empire to Freedom’, are now on view at Mumbai’s Dr Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum.
Curated by Dr Giles Tillotson, Senior Vice-President, Exhibitions and Publications, DAG, both exhibitions collectively showcase art from the gallery’s collection across the 17th,18th, and 19th centuries. The exhibitions marks the continuance of DAG’s legacy of collaborations with important institutions such as The Wallace Collection (London), the National Gallery of Modern Art (Mumbai), The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (New Delhi), Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi (Chandigarh), and Jawahar Kala Kendra (Jaipur).
Titled ‘Birds of India’, it is the first-ever exhibition in the country dedicated to an extraordinary selection of Company Paintings of Indian birds. It puts a spotlight on hybrid Indian art of rare and exceptional beauty that was unique to the Indian subcontinent and ardently pursued by the Britishers living in India at the time. The delicate detailing of Mughal atelier-trained artists paired with the refinement of European realism resulted in creation of these artworks on the view.
The second exhibition titled ‘New Found Lands’ explores landscape painting in India over a period of two hundred years, from 1780 to 1980. It unfolds a visual story that moves from an imposed colonial gaze, through Indian accommodation and adjustment, to rejection, and the profusion of new forms of imagery, rooted in the land.
With the exhibition on view 27th November,2021 – 16th February, 2022, DAG (Delhi Art Gallery) continues its legacy of collaborations with important institutions including The Wallace Collection, London, NGMA, Mumbai, and The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, to name a few.
