How the most comprehensive exhibition of India reveals the breadth and richness of Company Paintings, an underexplored genre representing a remarkable moment in Indian art history

Constant with its commitment to honour the unknown Indian masters commissioned by the East India Firm in the leisurely 18th and early nineteenth centuries, DAG, India’s premier art company, dedicates an exhibition to Firm Art work fully from the gallery sequence.

Curated by Giles Tillotson, SVP, DAG, A Treasury of Existence: Indian Firm Art work, c. 1790 to 1835 appears at how Indian artists replied to the demands of their patrons, establishing fully new templates of Indian art.

With two hundred artworks, it's location to be the largest exhibition in India showcasing the range of Firm Art work and ingenious brilliance of Indian painters. Opening on 12 April 2025 at DAG, New Delhi, this would remain on glimpse for nearly three months.

Firm painting has lengthy existed on the margins of Indian art ancient past—too leisurely to be thought to be part of the classical court tradition and too early to fit at some point of the myth of modernism.

But, A Treasury of Existence challenges that perception, proposing Firm painting as a crucial prelude to Indian modernism. By showcasing works that blend Indian ingenious heritage with Western influences, the exhibition unearths how Indian painters actively engaged with changing patronage, ways, and visual traditions, making this one in every of the most dynamic classes in Indian art.

It explores three foremost categories: natural ancient past, capturing India’s plant life and fauna with scientific precision and ingenious sensitivity; architecture, documenting ancient sites and cityscapes with a striking blend of Indian and European ways; and Indian manners and customs, portraying merchants, artisans, non secular figures, and sacred idols in shining detail. Reflecting the European want to doc an uncommon land and the ways in which Indian artists replied with ingenuity, adapting their talents to new formats and audiences, A Treasury of Existence underscores the fragility of the worlds they depicted.

Whether in the elegant rendering of a now-endangered plant species, the careful documentation of architectural heritage, or the detailed portrayals of social customs, these art work maintain ancient price no longer ethical as art, nonetheless as home windows into a past that, in many ways, no longer exists.

Beyond botanical study, Firm art work also present an unparalleled visual file of India’s natural atmosphere and wildlife, many of which hang undergone necessary adjustments over the centuries. These works serve as ancient snapshots of a time when India’s various ecosystems were clean largely intact, providing glimpses of species and landscapes that hang since been altered in consequence of urbanisation and environmental adjustments.

Ashish Anand, CEO and MD, notes, “This exhibition is a continuation of DAG’s lengthy-standing commitment to bringing higher recognition to Firm painting. Beginning establish with its sponsorship of Forgotten Masters: Indian Describe for the East India Firm on the Wallace Collection in 2019—the principle necessary exhibition on Firm painting in the UK—DAG has since equipped Birds of India, a pioneering exhibition devoted to the genre, at some point of three Indian cities. A Treasury of Existence builds on this foundation, expanding the conversation to focus on the elephantine scope of Firm painting and its significance in the evolution of Indian art.”

While many Firm artists remain unnamed, this exhibition provides works by recognised masters resembling Sita Ram, Sewak Ram, and Chuni Lal. Despite the incontrovertible fact that it's identified that European patrons supplied these artists with Western objects to details them, the point is seldom demonstrated. Works by European artists appreciate James Forbes, F.B. Solvyns, and Charles Gold support realize the kind of cloth Firm artists would hang had at their disposal.

As an alternative of tracing order influences, these references shed gentle on the broader visual tradition of the time—one where Indian artists engaged with foreign patrons to construct one thing fully new. Extra than a ancient survey, A Treasury of Existence repositions Firm painting as a necessary part of India’s ingenious poke. It captures a moment when Indian painters moved beyond royal commissions to embody new patrons, issues, and kinds—laying the muse for future shifts in Indian art. In doing so, the exhibition no longer easiest celebrates a crucial chapter in ancient past nonetheless also invitations new perspectives on how we realize the beginnings of contemporary art in India.

With an introductory essay by historian and curator Giles Tillotson, the accompanying publication carries contributory essays by students and consultants. Apurba Chatterjee (College of Discovering out) and Nicolas Roth (Harvard College) discover Natural Historical past whereas Malini Roy (the British Library) and Rosie Llewellyn-Jones investigate architecture and landscape and, Jennifer Howes (Royal Asiatic Society) writes on customs and trades.