The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York is hosting a landmark exhibition of ‘Sultans of Deccan India: Opulence and Fantasy’ exhibiting some of the 200 finest works of the yester and present era from major international, private and royal collections.
The exhibition, which opened on April 20, would be open till July 26 and artists from India are also participating in the exhibition with their work. One of the artist who is participating in the exhibition is Mohammad Ayazuddin from Kalaburagi.
The exhibition includes paintings and artefacts on the courtly art of the princely States of Kalaburagi, Bidar, Vijayapura, Berar, Ahmadnagar and Golconda in Telangana.
Senior artist Rehaman Patil, an expert on Deccani paintings, said that the golden age of Bijapur under the rule of Sultan Ibrahim Adil Shah II defined the spirit of Deccani art.
The grandest departure from reality is found in the sky of roiled pinks, whites and lavenders in an expansive Bijapur hunting scene that is one of the show’s best-known masterpieces.
A masterpiece in painting by the leading court artist Farrukh Husain demonstrates 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 are included among other rare surviving works.
Among the treasures from Golconda—whose diamond mines were the source of such diamonds as the legendary Kohinoor—is a group of magnificent gems from international royal collections, including the “Idol’s Eye” and “Agra” diamonds.
The tiny kingdom of Bidar is represented by 15 examples of the refined Bidri metalwork that was among the Deccan’s most distinctive luxury goods: vessels cast in a nearly black alloy and incised with foliate and geometric motifs with silver or brass inlay.
Apart from this original tile-work calligraphy of Mahmud Gawan Madarsa and Stone-engraving in Thulth style calligraphy of Chaukhandi and huge metal vessels from Kalaburagi during the Bahmani period, is also displayed in the exhibition.
Mr. Ayazuddin said that the show was organised by Navina Najat Haidar, the curator of Islamic Art and Marika Sardar, an associate curator at the San Diego Museum of Art.
