Three of my favorite things in the National Museum of Art in Delhi:
This one I love for its sheer self-reference. It's a stone carving of a pair of stone carvers. The expression on their faces is an inexplicable mixture of focus and resignation. Who said postmodernism is new?
I never really got Indian miniatures from the Moghul era until I read Orhan Pamuk's novel "Red" which is set in the Isfahan. Islamic painters eschewed the use of perspective long after they knew the technique because they wanted to depict "God's view". That explains why you see people in every window, each doing their own thing. Meanwhile, the king in the bottom right is planting a tree to the approval of his entire harem. The colors are vivid, and the social commentary telling.
Take a load of this carving. They look sooo... comfortable, but it is not a comfortable pose. (try it). The illusion of comfort somehow lends dynamism to this pose.
This one I love for its sheer self-reference. It's a stone carving of a pair of stone carvers. The expression on their faces is an inexplicable mixture of focus and resignation. Who said postmodernism is new?
I never really got Indian miniatures from the Moghul era until I read Orhan Pamuk's novel "Red" which is set in the Isfahan. Islamic painters eschewed the use of perspective long after they knew the technique because they wanted to depict "God's view". That explains why you see people in every window, each doing their own thing. Meanwhile, the king in the bottom right is planting a tree to the approval of his entire harem. The colors are vivid, and the social commentary telling.
Take a load of this carving. They look sooo... comfortable, but it is not a comfortable pose. (try it). The illusion of comfort somehow lends dynamism to this pose.
No comments:
Post a Comment