Clockwise from upper left: Rani Padmini (ca.16th century), Ajanta fresco (450), Hindu iconography (1710), Shakuntala (1870).
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Visual arts portal
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Indian painting has a very long tradition and history in Indian art.[1] The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of prehistoric times, such as the petroglyphs found in places like the Bhimbetka rock shelters. Some of the Stone Age rock paintings found among the Bhimbetka rock shelters are approximately 10,000 years old. Because of the climatic conditions in the Indian subcontinent, very few early examples survive today.
India's ancient Hindu and Buddhist literature has many mentions of palaces and other buildings decorated with paintings (chitra),[2] but the paintings of the Ajanta Caves are the most significant of the few ones which survive. Smaller scale painting in manuscripts was probably also practised in this period, though the earliest survivals are from the medieval period.[1] A new style emerged in the Mughal era as a fusion of the Persian miniature with older Indian traditions, and from the 17th century its style was diffused across Indian princely courts of all religions, each developing a local style. Company paintings were made for British clients under the British raj, which from the 19th century also introduced art schools along Western lines. This led to modern Indian painting, which is increasingly returning to its Indian roots.
Performance of Patua Sangeet by a Patua, with a pattachitra scroll to illustrate, Kolkata
Indian paintings can be broadly classified as murals, miniatures and paintings on cloth. Murals are large works executed on the walls of solid structures, as in the Ajanta Caves and the Kailashnath temple. Miniature paintings are executed on a very small scale for books or albums on perishable material such as paper and cloth. Traces of murals, in fresco-like techniques, survive in a number of sites with Indian rock-cut architecture, going back at least 2,000 years, but the 1st and 5th-century remains at the Ajanta Caves are much the most significant.[3]
Paintings on cloth were often produced in a more popular context, often as folk art, used for example by travelling reciters of epic poetry, such as the Bhopas of Rajasthan and Chitrakathi elsewhere, and bought as souvenirs of pilgrimages. Very few survivals are older than about 200 years, but it is clear the traditions are much older. Some regional traditions are still producing works.[4]
IndianpaintingIndianpainting has a very long tradition and history in Indian art. The earliest Indianpaintings were the rock paintings of prehistoric...
modern Indian art movement in Indianpainting is considered to have begun in Calcutta in the late nineteenth century. The old traditions of painting had...
Indian miniature paintings are a class of paintings originating from India. Made on canvases a few inches in length and width, the Indian miniatures are...
Painting is a visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix"...
indian red. Gum arabic or goat's milk formed the paint's binder, gum arabic used for painting on paper and goat's milk used mainly for wall paintings...
the territory of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. It emerged from Persian miniature painting (itself partly of Chinese origin) and developed...
Thanjavur painting is a classical South Indianpainting style, originating in the town of Thanjavur (anglicized as Tanjore) in Tamil Nadu. The art form...
Indian art Indian art consists of a variety of art forms, including painting, sculpture, pottery, and textile arts such as woven silk. Geographically,...
large wall of their academic block to preserve Indian heritage by hosting India's largest Warli art painting. Famous Warli artist Avanti Sandeep Kulkarni...
Kalighat painting, Kalighat Patachitra, or Kalighat Pat (Bengali: কালীঘাট পটচিত্র) is style of Indianpaintings which originated in the 19th century. It...
Kangra Paintings are made on traditional handmade paper using only mineral and vegetable colors. Rajput Painting Basohli PaintingIndianpainting Madhubani...
European and Deccan painting), Rajput artists never lost their own distinct identity, which manifested itself especially in Indian predilection to universal...
Cave paintings in India The history of cave paintings in India or rock art range from drawings and paintings from prehistoric times, beginning in the...
Phad painting or phad (/pʌd/; IAST: Phad, Hindi: फड़) is a style of religious scroll painting and folk painting, practiced in Rajasthan state of India...
example of Indianpaintings. The colors, mostly various shades of red and orange, were derived from minerals. The history of Eastern painting includes a...
Patna School of Painting (also Patna Qalaam, or Patna Kalam) is a style of Indianpainting which existed in Bihar, India in the 18th and 19th centuries...
include paintings and rock-cut sculptures described as among the finest surviving examples of ancient Indian art, particularly expressive paintings that...
Saura painting is a style of wall mural paintings associated with the Saura tribals of the state of Odisha in India. These paintings, also called ikons...
Action painting, sometimes called "gestural abstraction", is a style of painting in which paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the...
Ragamala paintings are a form of Indian miniature painting, a set of illustrative paintings of the Ragamala or "Garland of Ragas", depicting variations...
Mysore painting (Kannada: ಮೈಸೂರು ಚಿತ್ರಕಲೆ) is an important form of classical South Indianpainting style that originated in and around the town of Mysore...
depicting stories from Indian mythology, and intimately tied to the shorter stories from the Puranas and Epics. Earlier, these paintings were prevalent across...
the Devata murti prakarana and those on painting called the Citrasutras. The Natya Shastra, a classical Indian dance text, describes it to be a posture...
celebrating the deity. Nathdwara painting covers these and similar works in other genres, especially Indian miniature paintings. Like the Pushtimarg tradition...
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