#India

Asian Art

Mughal Gardens: Paradise on Earth

The Mughal regime is a well-documented era and the cultural achievements of this period are an important landmark in South Asian art history. While...

Maya M. Tola 24 July 2023

Design

Six Exquisite Mother-of-Pearl Artifacts from Gujarat

Mother-of-Pearl is an iridescent layer carved out of snail shells, usually the Turbo Marmoratus. It is a luminous material that naturally reflects...

Maya M. Tola 5 July 2023

Women Artists

Nalini Malani – An Introduction

Nalini Malani, Listening to the Shades 7, 2008. Artist’s website. “Over an extended career, Malani has been an unremitting voice for...

Isla Phillips-Ewen 5 July 2023

Art Travels

The Ruins of Hampi in India

Near the banks of the Tungabhadra River in southern India are an ancient group of monuments known as the Hampi. These grand ruins were once part of a...

Maya M. Tola 5 July 2023

Asian Art

Raja Ravi Varma: A Fine Mixture of European Realism and Indian Sensibility

Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906) was one of the most celebrated and prominent artists from India. His works combined European realism with Indian...

Anuradha Sroha 5 July 2023

Asian Art

Seven Famous Modern Indian Printmakers

Indian printmaking traces its lineage from the narrative of the father of Indian modern art, Raja Ravi Varma, and his oleographs. Besides, Varma was...

Urvi Chheda 5 July 2023

Asian Art

Ardhanarishvara: Androgynous Portrayal of Shiva and Parvati

The composite form of Shiva and his consort, Shakti (another name for Parvati) is known as the Ardhanarishvara or the “God who is...

Maya M. Tola 27 April 2023

Asian Art

Lakshmi in Art: The Goddess of Wealth

Lakshmi is a prominent Hindu deity who is also revered by Buddhists and Jains. Her eminent position in the Hindu pantheon emanates not only from her...

Maya M. Tola 27 April 2023

Asian Art

Gods of the Hindu Trinity: Representation in Art

The Hindu trinity comprises Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva (or Mahesh), the destroyer. These three Gods represent the cyclical...

Maya M. Tola 27 April 2023

Asian Art

Saraswati – The Beautiful Goddess of Knowledge and Art

Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge and the arts. Remarkably, in the Hindu tradition and in rituals, Saraswati occupies a more prominent...

Maya M. Tola 27 April 2023

Architecture

Jali in Mughal Architecture, the Most Delicate Stone Curtains

The jali, or pierced screens, have been extensively employed in Indian construction since time immemorial. They appear in both Hindu and Islamic...

Maya M. Tola 18 April 2023

Women Artists

Amrita Sher-Gil – India’s Frida Kahlo

Amrita Sher-Gil lived a short but certainly interesting life. Her artistic oeuvre is extremely impressive and she is considered to be one of the most...

Zuzanna Stańska 30 January 2023