Into India. South Asian Paintings from the San Diego Museum of Art

The Binney Collection of Indian Art in the San Diego Museum of Art (USA) is one of the world’s most important collections of 12th to 19th-century South East Asian art. A selection of 105 paintings, prints and manuscripts will now be shown in Europe for the first time, introducing visitors to the work of local artists produced for rulers and for the Persian, Central Asian and European merchants who arrived in India during this period. The works on display demonstrate these artists’ remarkable ability to adapt and modify their traditional style without losing their distinctively Indian character. The exhibition is organised into four sections, starting with a juxtaposition of works in the autochthonous Indian tradition and the type of painting that was produced for foreign clients from the 15th century onwards. This is followed by a second section on the illumination of books of Persian poetry, a third on the birth and evolution of the new style that arose from the confluence between these two traditions in the 16th century under Mughal rule, and a final section with paintings produced for British traders and civil servants associated with the East India Company. The latter constituted a notably enlightened group of clients, whose desire for knowledge about India is reflected in works that convey the natural beauties of the country, its flora and fauna, landscapes and peoples.