This article was originally published on Qrius.com
Styles of painting vary tremendously across nations. The use of gold in mughal paintings is indicative of their prosperity and wealth. The rare use of fresco technique is observed in dutch mural paintings. The flemish and dutch preference of using luminous colours highlight their tendency to portray religious and secular beliefs through art, all specific to their land, culture and background.
Rembrandt harmenszoon van rijn is considered one of the greatest visual artists in the world and was born in leiden, netherlands. He is known for his self-portraits, etching techniques and paintings that were highly appraised by his community. Now, his work: ‘titus as a monk’, ‘jan six’ amongst many others are highly revered and are all collected in galleries and museums across the world. Rembrandt used techniques to play with shadow and light in several paintings and was constantly inspired by art from across the globe. Although he had never himself travelled outside the netherlands, let alone to a country as far as india, he also developed an avid interest in the mughal miniatures. In fact, he copied several mughal miniatures even in the last decades of his life.
A brief history of mughal art
Mir sayyid ali and abdus samad, two of the greatest persian artists came with humayun to delhi and laid the foundation for mughal paintings and artwork. However, it was during jahangir’s rule that the mughal art reached its peak glory. His keen interest in paintings made him open a gallery in his own garden. Not only was jahangir enamoured by the beauty of mughal art, he also showed interest in european paintings brought by sir thomas roe. In fact, his court painters were asked to recreate most paintings brought by the english diplomat. Thus, the influence of art spread across the world, travelling from one nation to another, spreading inspiration.
Rembrandt and his mughal inspiration
Rembrandt was introduced to mughal paintings by his “clientele” as conveyed by stephanie schrader, a curator at the department of drawings at the j. Paul getty museum. Schrader specializes in 16th-18th century dutch and flemish art. She stated that rembrandt’s “clientele consisted of merchants whose wealth was inextricably linked to global trade and finance. It is conceivable that one of these men owned mughal paintings that the artist copied”. It was known that he took pride in never travelling and with the help of his clientele, inspiration travelled to him instead.
The exhibition at the getty centre
To commemorate this spread of inspiration, the j. Paul getty museum will be showcasing an exhibition of rembrandt’s work in its renowned getty centre. Aptly named “rembrandt and the inspiration of india“, the event will be held from 13th march to 24th june in los angeles. The idea behind the exhibition is to portray the juxtaposition between rembrandt’s view of the mughal paintings and the originals. This highlights the impact of culture and environment on art which will be made evident to those visiting the exhibition.
Schrader calls rembrandt the “pioneer of cross-cultural exchanges”. She states that the artist’s recreation of Mughal paintings also contrasts his usual inspiration that comes from “atmospheric dutch countryside, biblical scenes infused with the poignant psychological drama“. The Mughal art, on the other hand, depicts traditional indian outfits, the elaborate jewellery as well as swords and other decorated weapons which his recreations then captured. In the process of re-creating this vastly different art, rembrandt also showcases his thought process and understanding of Indian culture. The curator states that “he scratched out his first attempt to portray” the emperor, shah jahan’s “nose and redrew the nose bridge“. His punctilious record of facial features and other details makes the exhibition extraordinarily intriguing and worth a visit.
Rembrandt’s work has managed to travel through time while remaining just as enchanting as it used to be. His work will now also help spread knowledge of the old Mughal miniatures through the western world; thus, aiding inspiration to still continue to travel across the globe.
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