'The Indian Portrait: 1560 to 1860' at the National Portrait Gallery

In certain paintings such as that of Uday Ram's Sahib Jan c.1808 (left), we can particularly see a European influence in the increased use of shading, or 'chiaroscuro'. In the background as well, flat colour gives way to a specific 'realistic' landscape. Generally however, most portraits use largely flat colour to represent their subjects' skin, with maybe just a slight tonal variation about the nose. This isn't a less sophisticated style of painting, but simply reflects a different understanding of the point of a portrait, where 'verisimilitude' is less important.

Seth Manekchand (unknown artist, c. 1823), a wealthy merchant from Rajastan, is shown in typical Moghul profile view, but the grandiose size is clearly influenced by the Western idea that the scale of a portrait should communicate the importance of it's sitter.

However despite these changes witnessed during this period, a uniquely Indian style seems to be preserved throughout. The decorative floral borders of Seth Manekchand's portrait teems with minutely observed plant life and tiny buzzing insects. By Western standards many of these paintings are minute and all are so delicately painted with tiny brushstrokes that you almost to squint to make out all of the extraordinary detail.
With their jewel-like, decorative and 'flattened' effect they reminded me very much of English paintings of the Elizabethan era (for instance above right: Elizabeth I, the 'Armada' portrait - unknown artist, c. 1588) Elizabethan paintings often exhibited the same tendancy to allegory and overt symbolism, often collapsing narrative by showing events from different time periods within the same image, even repeating a depiction of the same person more than once. In both of these traditions, a display of status was the overriding priority of the painter. Indeed in Indian portraiture (such as Raja Bhupat Pal of Basohli Smoking a Huqqa - Mankot, c. 1685, above left) it was not uncommon to distinguish between social status by depicting the subjects either larger or smaller. Here the Rajah is depicted almost twice the size of his servant. Both the Elizabethan and Indian portraits with their bejewelled Lords or Maharajas were conspicuous propaganda tools, trumpeting the wealth and power of their subjects.



For all the intriguing collision of cultures what makes these paintings so attractive to our contemporary eyes is their unmistakably Indian saturation of colour and detail. This was a decorative style that didn't return to the European tradition of painting until the Post-Impressionists. Their predecessors, the Impressionist artists such as Van Gogh and Cezanne (above left: Van Gogh's Self portrait with pipe c.1888-9 and right: Gauguin's Self portrait with Emile Bernard portrait, c. 1888) had been freed from the ties of 'naturalism' by their exposure to Eastern art, brought over to them from traders from the East, particularly Japan. This time the borrowing of culture ran East to West.

ANNA BREGMAN is a portrait artist specialising in children's portraits. She studied design at Wimbledon School of Art and Central Saint Martin's College, followed by a History of Art degree from University College London where she developed an interest in portraiture. You can visit her website to view her pencil portraits, read tips on drawing and painting or to find out how to commission a portrait from photos


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