Domains of Wonder
Selected Masterworks of Indian Painting
San Diego Museum of Art
October 22, 2005 - January 22, 2006
Title: The Heavenly Court of Indra
Folio from a Kalpasutra and Kalakacharya Katha ms.
Western India, the Devasano Pado Bhandara, Gujarat; ca. 1475
Medium: Opaque Watercolor and Gold on Paper
Dimensions: 4 7/16 x 10 9/16 in. (11.3 x 26.8 cm)
Image Courtesy & ©: San Diego Museum of Art. Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990:190
Outside of India, one would have to make a trek to San Diego to view one of the largest collections of South Asian painting. In the
fall of 2005 several key works from the Edwin Binney 3rd Collection at the San Diego Museum of Art will form Domains
of Wonder.
Crayola heir Edwin Binney 3rd (1925-1986) bequeathed his South Asian Collection numbering 1,453 works to the San
Diego Museum of Art. The earliest pieces date from the 6th Century with the bulk of the collection drawn from the
15th-20th Centuries.
Title: The Sports of Love
Folio from a dispersed series of the Bhagavata Purana generally referred to as the Issarda Bhagavata
Rajasthan, from an Issarda workshop; mid 16th century.
Medium: Opaque Watercolor on Paper.
Dimensions: 7 13/32 x 9 29/32 in. (18.8 x 25.2 cm)
Image Courtesy & ©: San Diego Museum of Art. Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990:586
"What binds, even if loosely, the works within each section is the dominant quality, or spirit, that we perceive as having informed
the work of a given style or school", explains Dr. Goswamy, exhibit co-curator, in the exhibition catalogue. Domains of
Wonder is divided into eight sections.
Title: Fabled Beasts in a Landscape
Folio from a Book of Dreams.
Rajasthan, from a Mewar workshop; ca. 1720
Medium: Opaque Watercolor and Gold on Paper
Dimensions: 10 1/8 x 8 11/32 in. (25.7 x 21.2 cm)
Image Courtesy & ©: San Diego Museum of Art. Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990:621
Terse Assertions is a focus on the visual works inspired by religious texts. It is followed by Rooted in the Earth
the revolutionary time for artists leaving the past in the development of Indian painting.
Title: Celebrating with Fireworks
Attributed by inscription to Hashim
Single leaf mounted as an album page
Late Mughal, Muhammad Shah period; or Oudh; 2nd quarter of the 18th century
Medium: Opaque Watercolor and Gold on Paper
Dimensions: 6 3/32 x 8 13/16 in. (15.5 x 22.4 cm)
Image Courtesy & ©: San Diego Museum of Art. Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990:374
Third, Devotion, Passion and Heroism look at the Mughal Emperors Rajput court. The fourth section is
a chronological presentation of paintings from the Mughal court in Engaging with the Visible World. An imperial patronage
brought Persian artisans to train the Indian painters in the style preferred by the Mughals.
Sultans and Mystics, the fifth section, consists of painting created in the Deccan. The Sultans controlled the Decaan were
loyal to their Mughal Emperors continuing the link with the Persian influence.
Clarity of Vision is a section that is drawn from works created in the Himalayas.
Title: To Catch a Glimpse of Him, Even from a Distance
Pahari, from the family workshop of Purkhu of Kangra; ca. 1790
Medium: Opaque Watercolor and Gold on Paper
Dimensions: 11 5/32 x 13 3/8 in. (28.3 x 34 cm)
Image Courtesy & © San Diego Museum of Art. Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990:1335
|
Different Strands showcases local styles from all Regions of India that reflected their own needs. It is an interesting comparison
of these works that were not under the dominant Mughal control and allowed some freedom and inspiration.
|
Title: King Nriga in the Form of a Lizard is Trapped in a Dry Well
Folio from a Bhagavata Purana ms.
South India, from a Mysore workshop; ca. 1840
Medium: Opaque Watercolor and Gold on Paper
Dimensions: 12 x 8 11/32 in. (30.5 x 21.2 cm)
Image Courtesy & ©: San Diego Museum of Art. Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990:1402&
|
|
Title: A Green Winged Macaw
Attributed by inscription to Shaikh Zain al-Din
Folio, possibly from the "Impey album."
Company style at Calcutta; ca. 1780
Medium: Opaque Watercolor on Paper
Dimensions: 35 1/4 x 22 3/8 in. (89.5 x 56.8 cm)
Image Courtesy & ©: San Diego Museum of Art. Edwin Binney 3rd Collection, 1990:1357
|
Changing Tastes, the last part of the exhibit encompasses works influenced by European
travelers notably the British.
|
Domains of Wonder includes 123 paintings and two bound manuscripts to explore the unique
South Asian painting. The exhibit will later travel to Boston's Museum of Fine Arts in the fall of 2006 with later dates
a strong possibility for more to enjoy this beautiful Edwin Binney 3rd's collection.
|