12 Paintings


THE OPULENCE OF THE WORLD


I


n 2001, Horst Metzger bequeathed to the Museum Rietberg his collection of 250 Indian paintings


from the 15th to the early 19th century, 62 of which are currently exhibited in an exhibition at the museum. Tis new exhibition


complements the earlier


Pahari painting show at the museum in 2017. Metzger received his first Indian picture as a gift from business friends in 1978 and soon afterwards he made his first purchases in London. His collection grew steadily and he decided to study Indian art history at the South Asia Institute at Heidelberg University, in Germany. In his last decade, he devoted himself practically exclusively to his collection. Te paintings Horst Metzger


collected were produced by courtly painters and workshops mainly for royal or other distinguished patrons in Rajasthan, Pahari region and other erstwhile Indian kingdoms. Most of their


themes are based on courtly


activities, classical poems and epics. Other than the portraits and courtly subjects, series or sets of paintings often illustrated poetic or


religious texts.


Preserved in princely libraries and in special painting storerooms within the palaces, these paintings were viewed by the royal families and guests in their leisure hours or during festivals or other special occasions. Te


pictures were executed on


handmade paper with very fine brushes made of soft squirrel and sable hair. Te colours were made


from mineral,


organic or chemically produced pigments mixed with water and a binder, usually gum arabic. Tey were applied in several thin layers and then polished with a smooth agate stone. In addition, the painters applied powdered or leaf gold or silver foil on the painted surface. Tis current selection of masterpieces from the Metzger Collection display their narrative charm, richness of detailed depictions that invite you to take a journey of exploration into the many worlds these paintings represent. Te exhibition not only includes known painters, but also is showing works by not-yet-identified master painters from India. In addition to portraits and depictions


of courtly subjects, the painters often created extensive series of often over 100 individual sheets that illustrate poetic or religious texts. Te images were kept in princely libraries or special rooms in the palace and viewed by the ruling family and their guests during leisure hours or on special occasions and festivals. With their narrative charm and wealth of detail contained in the images, the paintings invite you to go on a journey of exploration into these visual worlds. Te Pahari style is closely allied to the


Rajasthani schools both in subject matter and technique is the Pahari style, so-named because of its prevalence in the erstwhile hill states of the Himalayas,


Apart from courtly paintings, the painters depicted religious texts


A game of dice in the month of Kartika, master of the first generation after Manaku and Nainsukh of Guler, folio 8 from a Barahmasa series, representing the month Kartika (October/November), Guler, circa 1775


stretching roughly from Jammu to Gaŗhwal, including the towns of Basohli, Guler, Kangra, Kullu, Chamba, Mankot, Nurpur, Mandi, Bilaspur, Jammu and others in the hills of western Himalayas, which emerged as centres of painting from 17th to 19th century. It is now divided into two main schools, the Basohli and the Kangra, however, these schools were not confined to these centres after which they are named but extended across the region. Unlike Rajasthan, the area covered by the Pahari style is small, and the probability


Krishna plays, now, in the springtime dancing, with girls, master of the first generation after Manaku and Nainsukh of Guler, folio from the Second Guler Gitagovinda series, Guler, circa 1775


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of artists travelling from one area to another in search of livelihood was much greater. Tis means that attempts to distinguish regional schools are fraught with controversy, and it has been suggested that a classification based upon ateliers and families is likely to be more tenable than those presently current among scholars. Because the Basohli and the Kangra schools show considerable divergences, scholars have postulated the existence of a transitional phase, named the pre-Kangra style. BN Goswamy (b 1933), one of the


most significant scholars of the Pahari schools of painting, has attributed the shaping of Pahari style from the simplicity of Basohli to poetic lyricism and refinement of Kangra to the ingenuity of a family of artists through his scholarly approach of family as the basis of style. His central argument is that the family of Pandit Seu (Shiv) was chiefly responsible for the course of Pahari paintings. He argues that identifying Pahari paintings on the basis of regions could be misleading as political boundaries were always fluid. Tis argument is also true for Rajasthani schools as attribution merely by regions creates vagueness and several disparities remain unexplained. Hence, if a family of artists is considered as the style bearer, justification of multiple strands of a style can be accommodated within the same region and school. Most scholars now dispute the earlier hypothesis that the sudden change was caused and initiated by the migration of artists from Mughal workshops. In the early 18th century, the style of the Seu family and others seemed to conform to the Basohli idiom.


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However, from the middle of the 18th century, the style transformed through a pre-Kangra phase, which fully matured into the Kangra style. Tis abrupt transformation in style and beginning of experimentation, which gave rise to varied stylistic idioms related to different Pahari centres, is largely ascribed to responses by various artist families and other paintings (especially in the Mughal style) that were introduced into the Pahari kingdoms. As mentioned, the origins of the


Basohli School are still not yet fully understood, but it is clear that the style


The marriage ceremony of Krishna’s parents, master of the first generation after Manaku and Nainsukh of Guler, folio 5 from the Small Guler Bhagavata Purana series (X.1.29), Guler, circa 1780. All images: Collection Horst Metzger © Museum Rietberg, Zürich. Photo: Rainer Wolfsberger


was flourishing toward the close of the 17th century. Bold colour, vigorous drawing, and primitive intensity of feeling are outstanding qualities in these paintings, quite surpassing the work of the plains. In addition to other Hindu works such as the Gitagovinda and the Bhagavata-Puraņa, a fairly large number of idealised portraits have also been discovered. Te Basohli style began to fade by the mid-18th century, being gradually replaced by the Kangra style, named after the state of Kangra. It was similar to the Basohli, but had a much wider presence. However, its curvilinear line, easy flowing rhythms, calmer colours, and a mood of sweet lyricism easily distinguish the work from that of the Basohli style. As suggested earlier, the reasons for this change are found in the strong influences from the plains, notably the Mughal styles of Delhi and Lucknow. Tese influences account for the more refined technique; but whatever was borrowed was transmuted and given a fresh and tender aspect. Among the greatest works are large series illustrating the Bhagavata-Puraņa (National Museum, New Delhi), the Gitagovinda, and the Satsai of Bihari (both in the collection of the maharaja of Tehri- Garhwal), all painted in 1775-80. Te corpus of this work is extensive and although it seldom fails to please, works of high achievement are rare. Te school flourished from about 1770 to almost the end of the 19th century, but the finest work was produced largely around 1775-1820. To grow his collection, and after his


retirement as director of a German chemical company, Horst Metzger travelled to India every year. He particularly enjoyed visiting Rajasthan, where he found a friend in the Maharana of Kotah, who invited him to all family occasions. Together they wrote the book Festivals and Ceremonies Observed by the Royal Family of Kotah, which was published by Museum Rietberg in 2001. In 2021,


the GBF Cooperative


• Until 21 March 2024, Rietberg Museum, Zurich, rietberg.ch


Research Programme for Indian Art and Artists was launched, which is financed by private sponsors. Te inventory of the Horst Metzger collection is the first result of the cooperation project.


• Not Yet Identified: Indian Master Painters and Their Workshops: A Visual Inventory of the Horst Metzger Collection, published by the Publication Foundation for the Museum Rietberg, is available in the museum shop or email artibus.asiae@zuerich.ch.


• Pahari Paintings: The Horst Metzger Collection in the Museum Rietberg by


BN Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer (2017), Niyogi Books, ISBN 9789385285721, £25


The final battle between Rama and Ravana, attributed to the Kota Master C, part of an album, probably assembled later in Jaipur, Kota, 1710-1720


WATCH


Kurt Behrendt from The Met discussing Pahari Paintings


Asian Art Newspaper


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