The Orientalists’ Benares: The ancient city depicted by foreign artists who visited India in 19th & early 20th centuries

DAG is pleased to announce The Orientalists’ Benares, a special exhibition, for Mumbai Gallery Weekend 2024, that features views of the ancient city of Benares as depicted by foreign artists in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The city, with its bustling riverside ghats and ritualistic fervour became a part of most travelling artists’ itineraries, serving as an evocative muse. While pioneering artists like the British uncle and nephew duo, Thomas and William Daniell came to Benares in search of picturesque views of architecture and landscapes, other artists who followed were more interested in people and society, and scenes of everyday life, than in monuments. For Orientalists like the Dutch Marius Bauer, the Belgian-born Adrien-Jean Le Mayeur de Merprès or the German Erich Kips, Benares provided the perfect backdrop to their paintings, which were sublime and romantic representations of the city.

Opened on 11 January 2024 at DAG 1, The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, the exhibition presents some of the finest works in DAG’s collection showcasing the diverse artistic responses to the city by such foreign artists across the span of nearly two centuries.