Political India: Engaging America

Even if the India-United States relationship appears to be a monochrome parade of banality in the political sphere, the civilisational link between the two nations has never been more vibrant, especially in the art world.

All of this forthcoming year, the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, one of the premier organisations behind the vast, variegated art collections of this country, will host a grand tribute to Indian art from the Mughal period.

In a special media preview this week, the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery, which specialises in Asian art, will display 50 masterpieces from the 15th -- 17th century period, from the times of Mughal kings including Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. The exhibition will be called “Worlds within worlds.”

Debra Diamond, Associate Curator for South and Southeast Asian Art at the Smithsonian, said that these paintings, which were “often costly beyond reckoning,” displayed a “new naturalism” in their composition, blending Indian and European influences. A portrait of a son of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal typified this style, she said.

The display, aptly named the “Indian Summer,” will be part of a broader, year-long tribute to Asian art that will also include a “Japanese Spring,” featuring seminal prints such as Hokusai's Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji and a major work by Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei. This will be followed up with a third exhibition of artwork under the title of “Arabian Autumn.”

Diamond emphasised the Sackler's sustained interest in displaying Indian art and noted that contemporary Indian art may be featured in future exhibitions in 2013.

Even as the Sackler celebrates its 25{+t}{+h}anniversary, the gallery announced to media that it had received a boost from a $5 million gift from Dame Jillian Sackler, the New York-based philanthropist and widow of Arthur M. Sackler, after whom the Gallery is named. The gift will be used to establish an endowment to support the position of the Director and programmes at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and Freer Gallery of Art.