Lucknow :

Narcissism omnipresent now in the form of ‘selfies’—pictures people click of themselves—was manifest in the form of portraits the high and mighty got painted of themselves for posterity. Nawabs of Avadh contributed immensely to the Company School of Painting, a genre of portraits during the British Raj, providing opportunity for many artists. They created vivid testimonies of the socio-cultural practices of the period.

The nawabs’ patronage to painters became a tradition. At a workshop in the city, Indian and Bangladeshi painters drew inspiration from ‘How nawabs patronised the palette’.

* Tilly Kettle’s Father and Son

Tilly Kettle (1735-86) was a portrait maker from London who traveled to India with the East India Company. He met Shuja ud Daulah in Calcutta where he painted his portrait and later accompanied him to Faizabad. He captured many facets of the aristocratic life but his most famous work was portrait of Shuja-ud-Daulah with his heir apparent Asaf ud Daulah. “The nuances of their work are remarkable. The intricacies as in the bejeweled ‘bajuband’ (armlet), and poise on the face of the two kings is an inspiration,” says Vipul Varshney, a city architect. Painters from Delhi such as Mir Kalan Khan also found refuge in Avadh with Mughal aristocracy declining.

* John Zoffany’s Cock-fight

The tradition of patronising painters was inherited by Asaf ud Daulah. This benevolent nawab is given credit for making Lucknow a subject for painters. The grandeur of his personality was captured on paper by Johann Zoffany (1733 – 1810), a painter of German origin and the work became a stencil for many local artists. Myraid representation of cock-fight match in the court of Avadh speaks volumes of the times. Claude Martin and another painter Ozais Humphery (of the Jane Austen portrait fame) are also in the picture. Later, Martin became a route for entry to the nawab’s court. Ozais made the painting of Haider Beg Khan (1786), a royal in nawabi court. The work, now in Victoria and Albert museums of London, showed that painters found clientele in people other than nawabs too.

* William Hodges, the first professional

Better known for a voyage to the Pacific Ocean, Hodges came to Avadh in 1778, under the patronage of Warren Hastings. He was one of the first British professional landscape painters to visit the country. He remained here for six years, staying in Lucknow with Claude Martin in 1783. His painting of (Fatehpur Sikri) is in Sir John Soane’s Museum. His depiction of the nawabi palace in Faizabad is noteworthy.

King Nasir-ud-Din Haider’s role

This nawab would be remembered more for promoting local artists. One of the paintings of the King with an English lady, probably the wife of Lord Bentinck, is quite striking. It shows the influence of British lifestyle on Avadh. A research work by Neeru Mishra has studied over 300 paintings on Krishna done by artist Ram Prasad who was known to be patronised by Nasir-ud-Din Haider, bringing to fore the nawab’s faith in the Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb.

Fusion of genres

Researcher Pran Neville has noted that Indian artists took the opportunity to work for their new British patrons, especially because the traditional patronage of Indian rulers and their courts was rapidly declining. “While adopting some features of Western art they took care to preserve traditional elements. Since their own skills were more than adequate, they did not need formal training from the British,” he writes. Scholars at Colombia University also noted that Zoffany was being imitated by local artists. One of his famous works, portrait of Nawab Asaf-ud-daulah, has seven versions besides the original.

Price of vanity

Getting a portrait made was a costly affair. Artists even advertised in newspapers to reach out to clients. One such advertisement that appeared in April 1798 was given by one lesser known artist named Morris. He charged 15-80 gold mohurs for different sizes such as bead size, three quarters, kit cat, half length and whole length. Zoffany charged Rs 2,500 from the wife of a British officer. “The well-to-do, in fact, were ready to spend any amount to get their portraits made for it was a fashion statement,” suggests Neville.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Shailvee Sharda, TNN / November 02nd, 2014