Not long ago, under the patronage of emperors and kings, the tradition of miniature painting blossomed in India. But today, in Delhi, where it was once ubiquitous and celebrated and where miniature artists thrived, the art is beginning to fade.
There is one miniaturist (believed to be the only one in Delhi) who carries out his work discreetly, far removed from the business of commercial art. Jai Prakash Lekhiwal is a popular name among miniature artists but not many contemporary artists know of this genius. The Padma Shri awardee learnt everything he knows from his father Mali Ram, who had been trained by the famous miniaturist of his time, Ustad Firoz. The latter’s forefathers were court painters for the Mughals.
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Lekhiwal’s art is traditional in every sense — be it his immaculate borders or the facial features of his human figures. His favourite styles, he says, are Company Style (an Indo-European style of paintings) and Delhi Mughal (which uses light and shade for depth), for their realistic renditions.
“People don’t value miniature art any more,” says Lekhiwal, “Only someone who understands the art, and comprehends the hard work that goes into the detail can value it.” People bargain with him, he says, like they are buying vegetables.
One of the reasons for the decline in interest is that miniature art is often perceived as a ‘copy’ of an ancient original. “Even when the artist is creating an original composition they think it’s a copy,” Lekhiwal explains. Moreover, nobody is willing to learn miniature painting these days. It doesn’t help that there is no university or art school teaching miniature painting in the country.
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Today, the art survives solely due to tourists, specifically those of them visiting Rajasthan. Here too, the art has become somewhat static. The Persian influence seems to have remained intact, as is evident from the decorative style. But the art lacks the verisimilitude of the older paintings.
Most artists in Rajasthan have acquired their skill from someone in the family. They can also make copies. This practice of reproduction not only hinders the evolution of the art but also takes away from its value.
Kavita Singh, author of Real Birds in Imagined Gardens: Mughal Painting Between Persia and Europe , says, “The limitation in their work is mostly a self-imposed one: to cater to a tourist market they feel they have to produce something that is recognisably traditional, and thus they end up repeating what has been done before. This prevents them from being innovative in their work, or using the miniature genre to address their contemporary reality.”
Idiosyncratic experiments
There are, however, some artists who are breathing new life into traditional styles. Olivia Fraser is one such. After a year at Wimbledon College of Art, she moved to India in 1989. She was attracted to the miniature paintings she saw in the National Museum.
“When you think of a miniature painting, you think of a very small-sized painting full of imagery,” she says. “And it was quite different from what I was learning in the West. In 2005, I decided to properly apprentice myself with miniature painting.”
Olivia’s approach is traditional in every sense. She uses handmade paper ( vasli ) and squirrel hair brushes and goes about her work in a precise fashion: but the result is an idiosyncratic style of her own. She says, “I have increased the size (of the paintings) but I’m using the same vocabulary.”
Paris-based artist Maya Burman has also created a signature style. French and Indian influences are evident in her work: her human figures, for instance, are similar to those of the 15th century French miniaturist Jean Colombe, but the intricate detailing is faithful to Indian miniature painting.
“I was attracted by the detailing and intricate figures,” says Burman. “Even in larger paintings with larger figures all the elements of miniature are still there.” Despite its exquisiteness and the fact that it represents an important part of India’s heritage, the art appears to hold value only among a small set of connoisseurs, mostly outside India. Says Singh: “This is very different from Pakistan, where miniature paintings have been enormously successful in the contemporary art scene.”
As Jaipur-based artist and Padma Shri awardee Shakir Ali puts it, miniature painting is not yet a ‘dying art’, but sadly, it seems to be heading that way.
The writer is a freelance journalist based in Delhi. Like poet Robert Frost, he has a lover’s quarrel with the world.