A common thread that binds these works is how the foreign gaze offered a more private view of the then-Indian life. An ongoing exhibition comprising 103 works with 85 on display, ‘Destination India: Foreign Artists In India 1857-1947’, by DAG explores this lively representation of India, through the eyes of 39 foreign artists from 12 countries. “This is the first exhibition to demonstrate that a major branch of Orientalist painting was devoted to India (and not confined to just North Africa and West Asia). Landmark exhibitions that have focused on the genre of such paintings in the past, including ‘The Lure of the East: British Orientalist Painting’ (2008) at London’s Tate Gallery, do not mention India. The Indian chapter of Orientalist paintings has hardly been explored so this exhibit breaks new ground,” says Ashish Anand, CEO & MD, DAG.
