Realms of Heroism: Indian Paintings from the Brooklyn Museum of Art


October 24, 1997 - January 4, 1998
The Bayly Art Museum honors fifty years of Indian independence with a major exhibition of miniature paintings. The hero in Indian culture has many faces, ranging from warrior and adventurer to deity and secular ruler. The theme of romantic hero and heroine are found not only in the pastoral exploits of the god Krsna but also in the depiction of lovers and emotional states found in Ragamalas and Nayika-nayaka literature.

Selected from the Brooklyn Museum of Art's significant holdings of Indian miniature painting, the exhibition features approximately 80 colorful, jewel-like works commissioned by Mughal emperors, indigenous Hindu rulers, and other patrons between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. A wide variety of historical portraits convey the greatness of the rulers of India.

The exhibition was organized by Amy G. Poster, curator of Asian Art and head of the Asian Art Department at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and is accompanied by a catalogue raisonnČ of the Museum's collection of Indian paintings and drawings. Daniel Ehnbom, the Bayly's adjunct curator of Southeast Asian art, associate professor of art history, and director of the Center for South Asian Studies at U.Va., is serving as guest curator.

Support for the exhibition has been provided by generous grants from the J. Aron Charitable Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. Major funding was also provided by the Christian Humann Foundation, the Asian Art Council of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, and Patrons of the Exhibition Benefit Committee. Additional funding for the catalogue was provided by the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

The presention of the exhibition and its programming at the Bayly Art Museum is made possible by generous grants from PMD International, Inc., and the Ellen Bayard Weedon Foundation, as well as support from the Center for South Asian Studies and the Arts Enhancement Fund at the University of Virginia.

Opening Reception
Saturday, October 25, 5:30-7:30 pm, in the Museum

Gallery Talk by Amy G. Poster, curator of Asian Art, Brooklyn Museum of Art
Sunday, October 26, 3 pm, in the Museum

Evening for K-12 Educators
Wednesday, October 29. Call 924-7458 for information.

Concert
Music from the Mughal Courts of India by Ustad Asad Ali Kahn
Sunday, November 2, 3-5:30 pm, in the Museum

Ellen Bayard Weedon Foundation Lecture in the Arts of Asia
Content Dictates Form: History Painting for Shah Jahan (1628-58) in the Windsor Castle Padshahnama by Ebba Koch, University of Vienna, Austria
Thursday, November 6, 5:30 pm, Campbell Hall 153

Ellen Bayard Weedon Foundation Lecture in the Arts of Asia
The Painter in Indian Miniature Painting by Pramod Chandra, Professor of Indian and South Asian Art, Harvard University
Thursday, November 20, 5:30 pm, Campbell Hall 153

Exhibition Lecture
The Story of Krsna in Indian Painting by Daniel Ehnbom, adjunct curator of South Asian Art, associate professor, McIntire Department of Art, and director, Center for South Asian Studies, U.Va.
Thursday, December 4, 5:30 pm, Campbell Hall 153
Reception follows in the Museum.

Images and Text Copyright, 1997
The Rector and Visitors of the
University of Virginia, Charlottesville		 Bayly Art Museum
University of Virginia
Rugby Road
Charlottesville, Virginia 22903