Indian Art and Letters

Author(s): India Society
Publisher: India Society

Page 18

India Society's Exhibition of Modern Indian Art
These Exhibitions have not only a great educative value, but they have this additional value that those of us who wish to see the relationship between Britain and India closer consider it a great honour to India that her first Exhibition of this kind should have been held in the metropolis of the Empire.
There is one thing more to be said about these Exhibitions, and that is that in spite of the influences both from the Far East and the West, the modern school of painting in India is trying to build up on its own traditions.
I only regret one fact, and that is there are not enough Mohammedan competitors here. When I was in Bengal I often used to encourage young Mohammedans from Lucknow and elsewhere to carry on their ancient art, and I hope that in a future Exhibition we shall see the spirit of Moghul and Indo-Persian painting more fittingly depicted than we find it to-day.
In conclusion, may I say to your Royal Highness that the Royal Family have always taken an interest in India, and it is a great compliment to India that your Royal Highness should have come here to-day to open this Exhibition. (Applause.)
H.R.H. The Duchess of York then declared the Exhibition open, saying: I am sure that many people will be most grateful to the India Society for assembling in London such an interesting collection of modern Indian art, and in declaring the Exhibition open, I hope that it will meet with the encouragement and the admiration that it so fully deserves.
For the convenience of readers the notice in The Times of December 10, 1934, referred to by Sir William Llewellyn, is here reproduced by permission:
MODERN INDIAN ART EFFECTS OF WESTERN INFLUENCE
EXHIBITION IN LONDON To be opened to-day by the Duchess of York, at the New Burlington Galleries, the Exhibition of Modern Indian Art which has been organized by the India Society was well worth the effort It 18 a much better exhibition than the somewhat scrappy representations of contemporary Indian art that we have had hitherto in London would have led anyone to expect, which is to say that it has completely fulfilled its purpose
To prevent misunderstanding, the exhibition does not contain many works that can be called masterpieces, but it does prove that, practically all over India, the native talent familiar to us in works of the past survives and is well worth cultivating. So far as can be judged the representation of the different parts of India is fairly well balanced, and it is unlikely that anything of special significance has been ignored.
The exhibition consists of nearly 500 works in oil and water-colour painting, drawing, engraving, sculpture, and architecture-represented by drawings and photographs. A good many of the works are loans. Thus, the Queen bas lent two paintings, one by Mr. Fyzee Rahamin
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