In the Dawn of Modernity in India: Company Paintings
from the collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi

This is the fifth exhibition of the Modern Artists Series, which introduces an individual artist or group who played a pioneering role in the development of modern art in Asia.  During the 18th and 19th centuries, various forms of artistic expression unique to India, most represented by its miniature painting, underwent transformation through encounters with the West, which are referred collectively today as “Company Paintings.”  The exhibition will comprise mainly of such “Company Paintings” selected from the notable collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.  The works not only possess great charm with delicate and luxurious expression, but by being the products of India’s colonization and negotiation with the Western visual culture, they provide fresh perspectives in thinking the issue of modernity in Indian painting and lead us further to explore the role that the exchange between Asia and West played in the modernization process.