"Challenges in Conducting a Christian Art Exhibition in India" by Paul Kattukaran

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form, organization or website.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

The coordinator of Indian Christian Artists’ Forum, Art-i, Fr Paul Kattukaran (r)
presents an Indian image of Christ "My Guru" done by the late Goan artist
Angelo da Fonseca to Archbishop of Goa and Daman Filipe Neri Ferrao as a
token of inculturating Christian faith in India.

For reflections on the challenges that have faced the Indian Christian Art Exhibition mentioned in my last entry, click here.  The post's author is Paul Kattukaran, the Coordinator of the Indian Christian Artists’ Forum (Art-i).  For a news story about the opening of the exhibition (pictured above), click here.

Despite several setbacks, Kattukaran writes:

With all the challenges, the exhibition of Indian Christian Art in Old Goa is a success on different counts; first of all most Goan Christians and many at the national level came to know of the exhibition through the print media and internet, especially UCAN news. Secondly, this exhibition inaugurated and blessed by the Archbishop of Goa has become a stepping stone for Christian Art ministry in Goa and India.

Indian Christian Art by Brojoe Joseph

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form, organization or website.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

Below are some beautiful examples of Christian artwork by Indian artist Brojoe Joseph (perhaps his student work).  You can find more of his paintings at his blog, Indian Christian Art, which features an Introduction section where he briefly explains inculturation, as well as Christianity in India and various styles of Indian painting.

I Am the Light of the World

Supper

The Last Supper by Jamini Roy

Please Note: All posts on this blog are intended for informational purposes only, not as an evaluation or endorsement of any artist, art form, organization or website.  If you have concerns about the accuracy of any information presented please contact the author at hmsarthistorian@gmail.com.

The Last Supper by Jamini Roy, c.1937–1940. Oil on canvas, 61 x 183 cm

From the Victoria and Albert Museum:

This work represents an instance of the artist's early fascination for Christian themes.
The painting depicts the twelve apostles in profile, six stand in the foreground and six in the background; Christ, is the only figure depicted in full frontal view. All the figures, have very large eyes, a characteristic feature of Jamini Roy's work. 

Jamini Roy (1887-1972) was one of the most important [non-Christian] artists of the modern period in India, drawing on the popular and folk traditions of rural Bengal for his inspiration. He developed his own personal style which was characterised by bold lines and flat use of colour. He used indigenous materials, including lamp black for the outline drawing, 7 basic colours (Indian red, yellow ochre, cadmium green, vermilion, grey, blue and white), which he applied with organic tempera, earth and mineral pigments to homemade canvas spun with fabric. His paintings can be divided into three main themes: the everyday life of rural Bengal, particularly the women of the aboriginal Santhal community, Hindu mythological subjects and Christian imagery.

A Brief History of Visual Contextualization in India: Mughal Art

Christ as Salvator Mundi, 17th century.

Continuing with my series on visual contextualization in Indian art, I'll now turn to a another chapter in India's art history: Mughal Art.  The Mughal Empire was an Islamic ruling power in India from 1526-1858, although its "classic period" lasted from 1556-1707.  At its height, it controlled most of India, and parts of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.  Besides trusty Wikipedia, I also will also be referring to Crossing Cultural Frontiers: Biblical Themes in Mughal Paintings by Som Prakash Verma (or more information about the book, see Amazon).

A Brief History of Visual Contextualization in India: Hindu Art

Krishna Flirting with the Gopis, c. 1780–1820

As I stated in my last post in this series, both Hindu and Buddhist art in India grew indirectly out the Indus Valley/Harrapan civilization (3300–1300 BC), with each religion developing its own styles and subject matter.  Buddhist art came to prominence first, around the first century BC, and continued to be prominent in India through the 16th century AD.