Saturday, March 27, 2010

A day well spent

I'd call it a day well spent.

I was at a special exhibition of paintings on India by British artists - all of them done between 1790 and 1927. It was an amazing experience and I spent hours gaping at those stunningly beautiful watercolours. The fact that I was the only one at the exhibition made it all the more interesting since I could spent all the time I wanted to, looking at those masterpieces with no one to interrupt me.

Picture this. About a hundred top class paintings to look at. All the time in the world. Absolute silence. Would you call that bliss?

The works on display included those of 18th and 19th artists like Thomas Daniell, William Daniell, George Chinnery, Thomas Longcroft, Charles Harcourt Chambers, Robert Smith, William Carpenter and William Simpson. Honestly, I haven't heard of most of these artists ever and was stunned by the fact that a good number of them were amateur artists. Does that inspire you ?

For those of you who are not within driving distance of the museum here's a sample of what you are missing.


Gateway of the Buddhist Top at Sanchi : William Simpson : 1862

Ali Masjid : Michael Anthony Shrapnel Biddulph : 1890

A drink by the way : John Griffiths : 1876

View of Government House, Calcutta : James Baillie Fraser : 1826

Interior of Golden Temple, Amritsar : William Carpenter : 1854

Ancient Observatory : William Simpson : 1864

The Taj, Agra : William Simpson : 1864


2 comments:

  1. Those are all stunningly beautiful! I'm jealous, I wish I got to go, but I'm glad you posted these pictures. My favorite is 'A Drink By the Way.'

    And yes, that pretty much sums up bliss, I think :)

    How inspiring, thanks for sharing this! Now go pick up paintbrush and create something amazing, I'll be waiting to see what it is :)

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  2. Thanks for sharing! - wish I too could have seen this exhibit.

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