Rajasthani Schools of Painting

• The term 'Rajasthani Schools of Painting' refers to painting schools in the princely kingdoms and thikanas of areas roughly including Rajasthan and parts of Madhya Pradesh.
• These paintings were created largely between the 16th and early 19th centuries in places such as Mewar, Bundi, Kota, Jaipur, Bikaner, Kishangarh, Jodhpur (Marwar), Malwa, and Sirohi.
• Anand Coomaraswamy coined the term 'Rajput Paintings' in 1916 to distinguish these works, created by mostly Rajput rulers and patrons, from the Mughal School of Painting.
• Malwa, with its Central Indian princedoms, and the Pahari Schools in the Himalayan region were encompassed in Rajput Schools.
• Coomaraswamy viewed this nomenclature as representative of the indigenous painting tradition predating the Mughal conquest.
• The term 'Rajput Schools' is now considered obsolete, with "Rajasthani" and "Pahari" being employed instead.
• Pictorial styles varied significantly across kingdoms despite short separations regarding execution, colour preferences, compositional elements, narration modes, and affinity.
• Some showed affinity for naturalism, while others emphasized extreme mannerism.
• Paintings were made on waslis, which are layered, thin sheets of handmade papers glued together.
• Outlines were sketched on waslis in black or brown, with colours fixed using notations or sample patches.
• Colour pigments came mainly from minerals and precious metals such as gold and silver, mixed with glue as a binding medium.
• Hair was used for brushes.
• Paintings were burnished with agate for a uniform sheen and appealing look.
• Painting was a teamwork activity where the master artist composed and made preliminary drawings.
• Pupils or experts contributed in colouring, portraiture, architecture, landscapes, and animals.
• The master artist added finishing touches.
• A scribe would write the verse in the space left for it.
• Vaishnavism, including the cults of Rama and Krishna, became popular by the 16th century in western, northern, and central India as part of the Bhakti movement.
• Krishna had a special appeal as both God and an ideal lover.
• Love was cherished as a religious theme, synthesizing sensuousness and mysticism.
• Krishna was seen as the creator and Radha as the human soul offering herself to God.

Gita Govinda

• Gita Govinda is a lyrical poem in Sanskrit, composed in the 12th century by Jayadeva, believed to be the court poet of Lakshmana Sen of Bengal.
• It evokes shringara rasa, portraying the mystical love between Radha and Krishna through worldly imageries.

Rasamanjari

• Rasamanjari was composed in the 14th century by Bhanu Datta, a Maithil Brahmin from Bihar.
• Rasamanjari is a Sanskrit treatise on rasa classifying heroes (nayakas) and heroines (nayikas) by age and appearance and emotional states, such as khandita, vasaksajja, abhisarika, utka, etc.

Rasikapriya

• Rasikapriya ("the Connoisseur's Delight"_) is replete with complex poetic interpretations, composed by Keshav Das in Brajbhasha and designed to incite aesthetic pleasure among elite courtiers.
• Written in 1591, Keshav Das was the court poet of Raja Madhukar Shah of Orchha.
• It explores various emotive states between Radha and Krishna.

Kavipriya

• Another poetic work by Keshav Das
• Written in honour of Rai Parbin, a courtesan of Orchha
• Depicts love and evokes descriptions of the 12 months of the year with the daily life of people in different seasons.

Bihari Satsai

• Bihari Satsai, authored by Bihari Lal, comprises 700 verses incorporating aphorisms and moralizing witticism.
• Largely held that it was composed around 1662 while he was at the court of Jaipur

Themes in Painting

• Satsai has been largely painted at Mewar and to a lesser extent in the Pahari School.
• Ragamala paintings are pictorial interpretations of ragas and raginis.
• Ragas were traditionally envisioned in forms, in romantic or devotional contexts.
• Each raga is associated with a specific mood, time of the day, and season.
• Ragamala paintings were arranged in albums of 36 or 42 folios, organized in families headed by a male raga and six female consorts called raginis.
• The six main ragas are Bhairava, Malkos, Hindol, Dipak, Megha, and Shri.
• Other themes included bardic legends and romantic tales like Dhola-Maru, Sohni-Mahiwal, Mrigavat, Chaurpanchashika and Laurchanda.
• Texts such as the Ramayana, Bhagvata Purana, Mahabharata, and Devi Mahatmya were favorites for all schools.
• Paintings recorded court scenes and historic moments, hunting expeditions, wars, picnics, garden parties, dance and music performances, rituals, festivals, wedding processions, portraits of kings, city views, and animals.

Malwa School of Painting

• Flourished between 1600 and 1700 CE
• Representative of the Hindu Rajput courts
• Two-dimensional, simplistic language
• A consummation of stylistic progression from the Jain manuscripts to the Chaurpanchashika manuscript paintings.
• Lacks a precise center of origin
• Suggests territory of Central India
• Notable places are Mandu, Nusratgarh and Narsyang Sahar.
• Illustrated poetic text of Amaru Shataka (1652 CE)
• Ragamala painting by Madho Das in 1680 CE.
• A large number of paintings discovered from the Datia Palace collection supports a claim for Bundelkhand
• Mural paintings in the Datia Palace lack a Mughal influence
• Works on paper are inclined toward indigenous two-dimensional austerity.
• Absence of patron kings mentions or portraits, supports a view that paintings were purchased by Datia rulers from traveling artists.
• Popular themes include the Ramayana, Bhagvata Purana, Amaru Shataka, Rasikapriya, Ragamala and Baramasa.
• The Mughal School dominated from the 16th century through the courts of Delhi, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Lahore.
• Provincial Mughal Schools prospered, with pictorial language evolved through an amalgamation of Mughal and eccentric local elements.
• The Deccani School flourished in Ahmednagar, Bijapur, Golconda and Hyderabad from the sixteenth century.
• The Rajasthani Schools came into prominence in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century.
• The Pahari School followed in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

Mewar School of Painting

• Conjectured to be a significant early center of painting in Rajasthan.
• Mewar formalized styles from pre-seventeenth century bold, indigenous styles to refined styles after Karan Singh's contact with the Mughals.
• Mughal conflict wiped out early examples
• The emergence of the Mewar School is associated with Ragamala paintings painted at Chawand in 1605 by Nisardin.
• Set shares distinct visual aesthetics and has pre-seventeenth century affinity.
• Reign of Jagat Singh I (1628–1652) is period of pictorial aesthetics reformulation under Sahibdin and Manohar.
• Sahibdin painted the Ragamala (1628), Rasikapriya, Bhagvata Purana (1648) and the Yuddha Kanda of Ramayana (1652)
• Manohar's most significant work is is the Bal Kanda of Ramayana (1649)
• Jagannath painted the Bihari Satsai in 1719.
• Other texts like Harivamsha and Sursagar were illustrated in the last quarter of the seventeenth century.
• Attributed to Sahibdin- Yuddha Kanda, a chapter in the Ramayana, uses aerial perspective to depict war.
• Mewar artists used painting to represent courtly activities.
• Mewar artists prefer bright colours of Red's and Yellows,

Nathdwara Painting

• Town close to Udaipur
• Prominent Vaishnava center
• Emerged as school of painting in the late seventeenth century.
• Large backdrops called pichhwais were painted on cloth for Shrinathji for festive occasions.
• Mewar painting in the eighteenth century became secular and courtly.
• Portraiture emerged with court scenes.
• Maharana Jagat Singh II (1734-1752) touring the countryside, horizon raised enabling artist to visualise panoramic view.

Bundi School of Painting

• Flourished in 17th century
• Known for unblemished color sense and excellent formal design.
• Bundi Ragamala dated 1591 has been painted at Chunar in the reign of Bhoj Singh (1585–1607)
• Rao Chattar Sal (1631–1659) was made the governor of Delhi by Shahjahan
• Played a conspicuous role in the subjugation of the Deccan
• Son Rao Bhao Singh (1659–1682) commissioned numerous portraits
• Successors Aniruddha Singh (1682–1702) and Budh Singh, encouraged painting despite political disputes.

Umed Singh

• The painting activity entered its most accomplished phase albeit for a short time during the long reign of Budh Singh's son, Umed Singh (1749–1771)
• Acquired refinement in minuteness of details.
• Bundi paintings during the eighteenth century appear to have imbibed Deccani aesthetics, such as love for bright and vivid colours.
• Umed Singh's successor Bishen Singh (1771–1821) ruled Bundi for 48 years, was a connoisseur of art, had keen interest in hunting

Bundi and Kota School

• A distinct feature is a keen interest in the depiction of lush vegetation; picturesque landscape with varied flora, wildlife and birds; hills and thick jungles; and water bodies.
• Contains series of fine equestrian portraits
• Drawing of elephants is unsurpassed
• Women described with round faces, receding foreheads, sharp noses, full cheeks, sharply penciled eyebrows and a 'pinched' waist.
• Earliest phase of painting is Bundi Ragamala, inscription 1591 mentions Shaykh Hasan, Shaykh Ali and Shaykh Hatim.
• Mention Chunar as the place of origin of the painting, where Rao Bhoj Singh and his father Rao Surjan Singh maintained a palace.
• Surviving folios: Raginis Khambavati

Kota School of Painting

• Tradition of Bundi gave rise to Rajasthani Schools, Kota.

• Excels in depiction of hunting scenes

• Reflects excitement and obsession for animal chase.

• Bundi and Kota were parts of the same kingdom till 1625.

• Jahangir divided Bundi and awarded part to Madhu Singh (son of Bhoj Singh of Bundi).

Post separation

• After its separation from Bundi, Kota had its own school, commencing around 1660s in the reign of Jagat Singh (1658–1683).
• Early period, paintings of Bundi and Kota cannot be distinguished for decades.
• Kota painters borrowed from Bundi repertoire.
• Some compositions were taken verbatim from Bundi pictures.
• By the reign of Ram Singh I (1686–1708), artists had passionately enlarged their inventory to a large variety of subjects.
• Kota artists seem to have been the first to render landscape as the real subject of compositions.
• Umed Singh (1770–1819) acceded to throne at the age of 10 years.
• Powerful regent Zalim Singh arranged for the young king to be amused with hunting.
• Umed Singh occupied himself with wildlife and gaming.
• Kota painting of this period reflects obsession with the chase, which became a social ritual.

Characteristics of painting

• Spontaneous, calligraphic in execution emphasizes marked shading.
• Characteristically- double-lid eye.
• Artists of the Kota School excelled in rendering animals and combat.

Bikaner School of Painting

• Rao Bika Rathore established in 1488.
• Anup Singh (1669–1698) instituted library in Bikaner that became a repository of manuscripts and paintings.
• Long association with the Mughals developed a distinctive language influenced by Mughal elegance.

Art

• Several master artists of the Mughal atelier visited and worked in Bikaner.
• Karan Singh had employed Ustad Ali Raza from Delhi.
• Anup Singh's reign, Ruknuddin was master artist.
• Style amalgamated indigenous idiom and Mughal.

General Practices

• Practice in Bikaner was to set up studios called Mandi,
• A group of artists worked under supervision,
• Ruknuddin, Ibrahim and Nathu managed.
• Several Mandis existed in Anup Singh's reign.
• On the completion of painting, court archivist entered the name of the master artist behind work, resulting in name of artist works of his pupils.
• Master artist would occasionally put finishing touches to paintings
• Term gudarayi, meaning to 'lift' was the practice
• Studio was entrusted with task- repairing (marammat ) and making Nakals
• The custom of having portraits of artists is unique to the Bikaner School
• Portraits are referred to as Ustas or Ustad.
• Ruknuddin painted exquisite works in soft colour tones.
• Ibrahim's works have a misty dreamlike quality.

Accounts of the time

• Bahis, royal archival day-to-day diaries, and numerous inscriptions make it one of the best documented schools
• -Inscriptions in Marwari/Persian: reveal names, dates, occasions for works commissioned.

Kishangarh School Of Painting

• stylised of all Rajasthani miniatures
• Distinguished by sophistication
• Arched eyebrows, lotus petal shaped eyes, sharp slender nose and thin lips.
• Kishan Singh founded state of Kishangarh in 1609.
• Man Singh patronage 1658–1706
• Distinctive style of state
• Human form elongation
• Lavish use of green
• Penchant for panoramic landscapes
• Raj Singh during 1706–1748
• Pushtimargiya cult of Vallabhacharya
• Krishna Lila became personal themes
• Sawant Singh, Nihal chand between 1735 and 1757, paintings portrayed theme of divine lovers
• Kishangarh artists depiction of vistas in accentuated colours.

Jodhpur School of Painting

• political presence of Mughals
• Visual aesthetics, portraiture Most illustrated sets is Ragamala set, 1623 Jaswant Singh 1638–1678- 17th century Documentary painting Portraits Jaswant Singh Ajit Singh (1679–1724)
• Legendary Veer Durgadas Rathore*

Man Singh Reign

• Jodhpur painting
• Significant sets
• Painter employs understanding in Ayodhya and interwove with the stories of Krishna and Rama
• Man Singh was the follower of the guru Naths and paintings exist

Jaipur School of Painting

• Originated in AMER.
• Near, Mughal capitals Agra and Delhi and Rajasthan
• Rulers maintained good Mongol relations

Raja Baharmal

• Marries daughter to Akbar
  • His Sons were also friends woth Akbar

Sawai Jai

• Established capital JAIPUR
• Independent paintings
• Mongols were at home
• Invite craftsmen to Surtkhana- draw to the Vaishanvite seat and commissioned

Radha and Krishna

• Artists had paintings of-
  • Rasikapriya
  • Gita Govinda
  • Baramasa
  • Ragamala
• Portrait painting also popular
• Sahibram was a part of the Siawhri Singh Atelier

Sawai

• Samai Patronage saw the leisure pursuits and elephant rides
• Mughal influence reeded and style emerged
  • a blend b/w mongal and other styles.
  • Jaipur thrived even further
    • employed artists and made scholar poets
    • Representation of courtly -Pomp
• splendous and renewed stimulus
• Many produced copies and gold was lavished