DAG presents A Treasury of Life: Indian Company Paintings c. 1790-1835, a group exhibition featuring an expansive collection of Company Paintings made during the British period. The term ‘Company painting’ was coined some seventy years ago to describe works made by Indian artists working for European patrons in India – typically employees of the various foreign trading companies – in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Early enthusiasts of the genre were few: most people thought it was too late or ‘decadent’ to be considered as good court art, and too early or ‘primitive’ to be considered as modern. Recent exhibitions and publications have raised awareness and appreciation of this exceptional phase of Indian art, and this exhibition contributes to that purpose.
Find out more about the show here.