America
Landmark exhibition at Metropolitan Museum features art from Deccan India
Exhibition Dates: April 20–July 26, 2015
Exhibition Location: First-floor special exhibition gallery, Gallery
199
1000 fifth
Avenue, New York
The Deccan plateau of south-central India was home to a succession of
highly cultured Muslim kingdoms with a rich artistic heritage. Under their
patronage in the 16th and 17th centuries, foreign influences—notably from Iran, Turkey,
eastern Africa, and Europe—combined with
ancient and prevailing Indian traditions to create a distinctive Indo-Islamic
art and culture. Opening at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on April 20,
the landmark exhibition Sultans of Deccan India, 1500–1700: Opulence and
Fantasy will bring together some 200 of the finest works from major
international, private, and royal collections. Featuring many remarkable loans
from India, the exhibition—which is the most comprehensive museum presentation
on this subject to date—will explore the unmistakable character of classical
Deccani art in various media: poetic lyricism in painting; lively creations in
metalwork; and a distinguished tradition of textile production. A highlight
will be the presentation of all of the known masterpieces and several new
discoveries in painting, the greatest art of the Deccan.
Another highlight will be the display of diamonds—some of the largest ever
found—that originated in the great mines of the Deccan.
The exhibition is made possible by the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund, the
Placido Arango Fund, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the
National Endowment for the Arts, and Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon B. Polsky.
It is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the
Humanities.
The population of the Deccan plateau by the 16th century included immigrants
from Central Asia and Iran,
African military slaves, native-born Muslim nobles, and European missionaries,
merchants, and mercenaries. As a result, it boasted one of the most
cosmopolitan societies of the early modern world. To provide a glimpse into
this dynamic, yet little-known society, the exhibition will focus chiefly on
the courtly art of the kingdoms of Bijapur, Ahmadnagar, Bidar, and Golconda. These dynamic
centers of royal patronage drew some of the greatest artists, writers, poets,
and musicians of the period.
The golden age of Bijapur under the rule of Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II
(1580–1627) defines the spirit of Deccani art. Masterpieces in painting by the
leading court artist Farrukh Husain will demonstrate the refined and lyrical
style that influenced much of Deccani art. Ahmadnagar’s African nobility
included the legendary Abyssinian Malik Ambar (1548–1628), whose portraits will
be included among other rare surviving works. Numerous examples of the
celebrated bidrimetalwork tradition from the kingdom of Bidar
will also be shown. These feature a base composed of a blackened alloy of zinc
and copper with thin sheets of silver inlay in striking designs.
From antiquity until the 18th and 19th centuries, when diamonds were discovered
in Brazil and Africa, India was
virtually the sole source for these precious gems. The extremely rich
mines of Golconda
produced some of the largest known diamonds. Whether given as diplomatic
gifts or traded by merchants, India’s
diamonds reached an appreciative audience among European royalty. The Deccan, already astonishingly wealthy, was further
enriched by foreign demand for these gems. Among the treasures from
Golconda—whose diamond mines were the source of such diamonds as the legendary
Kohinoor—will be a group of magnificent gems from international royal
collections, including the “Idol’s Eye†and “Agra†diamonds.
Also to be shown are spectacular large painted and printed textiles (kalamkaris),
several over nine feet in height and all richly painted with motifs drawn from
Indian, Islamic, and European art. These will be shown along with sumptuous
royal objects made of inlaid and gilded metal, precious jewels, carved wood,
and stone architectural elements, many of which draw inspiration from the art
of Safavid Persia
and Ottoman Turkey.
Related Publications
The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue suitable
for scholarly and general audiences. The catalogue will feature photography by
Antonio Martinelli, veteran photographer of Indian art and architecture.
Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed by Yale University
Press, the book will be available for purchase in the Museum’s book shops ($65,
hardcover).
The catalogue is made possible by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the E. Rhodes
and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the Doris Duke Fund for Publications, and
Shubha and Prahlad Bubbar.
A related publication, Sultans of the South: Art of India’s Deccan Courts,
1323–1687 (edited by Navina Najat Haidar and Marika Sardar, $50), includes
essays from the 2008 symposium The Art of India’s Deccan Sultans, which
was made possible by The Hagop Kevorkian Fund.
Related Programs
Education programs for general adult audiences include a series of exhibition
tours, FridayFocus programs, a studio workshop on jewelry design, and a
MetFridays gallery event that will feature interactive and multisensory
experiences related to Deccan court life. In
addition, aSunday at the Met on April 26 will include a
lecture by William Dalrymple, author of White Mughals, about the history
and culture of Hyderabad and an original dance combining classical Indian and contemporary
Western forms, performed by Preeeti Vasudevan and her dance company Thresh. The
dance performance is inspired by the Deccan
poetess Mah Laqa Bai Chanda. A How Did They Do That? program for
families and a Sunday Studio art-making program for visitors of all
ages will focus on miniature paintings. A series of programs has also been
organized for visitors with disabilities.
The education programs are made possible by the E. Rhodes and Leona B.
Carpenter Foundation, the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, and the Deccan
Heritage Foundation.
Also, a two-day symposium will bring together scholars discussing the
paintings, arms, and textiles of the Deccan
and specialists in the field of heritage preservation.
The symposium is made possible by H.H. Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah Al-Thani.
For visitors of all ages, a Senses of Springtime: Celebrate India! festival
on Sunday, May 17, will include art-making workshops, talks with gallery
educators, and musical performances.
The festival is made possible by the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, the
Great Circle Foundation, and the E. Rhodes and
Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. It is presented by the Museum's Multicultural
Audience Development Initiative and the Education Department in consultation
with Cool Culture.
The exhibition will be featured on the Museum’s website, as well as on Facebook, Instagram andTwitter via the hashtag #DeccanSultans.
The exhibition is organized by Navina Najat Haidar, Curator, Department of
Islamic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Marika Sardar, Associate
Curator, San Diego Museum of Art, assisted by Courtney Stewart, Senior Research
Assistant, Department of Islamic Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Exhibition design is by Michael Langley, Exhibition Design Manager; graphics
are by Constance Norkin, Graphic Design Manager; and lighting is by Clint Ross
Coller and Richard Lichte, Lighting Design Managers, all of the Museum’s Design
Department.