Introduction to Indian Art- 1

Prehistory

no paper or language or the written word, and hence no books or written documents

Was difficult to surmise until excavations began

Oldest Art forms practised by Human Beings

Painting and Drawing

Paleolithic

old stone

40,000- 10,000 BCE

used quartzite

Mesolithic

Middle Stone

10,000- 8000BCE

hunter gatherers

Neolithic

New Stone

8000- 4000 BCE

Why did prehistoric people draw?

may have drawn and painted to make their shelters more colourful and beautiful or to keep a visual record of their day-to-day life, like some of us who maintain a diary.

Upper Palaeolithic

quantity of art increased

Earliest reported painting in India

1st Discovery of Rock Paintings in India

1867-68 by Archibald Carlleyle in Sohagighat in Mirzapur, UP

12 years before discovery of Altamira in Spain

Cockburn, Anderson, Mitra and Ghosh

Early archaeologists who discovered sites in Indian subcontinent

Altamira Caves, Spain

districts where rock cave paintings have been found

Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Bihar.

Lakhudiyar Caves, Kumaon hills, Uttarakhand

Which colours were used in rock painting in Lakhudiyar

red white and black

famous cave sites

Kupgallu, Piklihal and Tekkalkota

Objects depicted in rock Cave Paintings

Bulls, elephants, sambhars,gazelles, sheep, goat, horses, stylised humans, tridents

Where are the richest rock cave paintings in India

Vindhya range in MP and Kaimurean extension in UP.

Has palaeolithic and mesolithic remains.

Bhimbetika

famous among the richest cave paintings

in Vindhya Hills, MP- 45 km from Bhopal

VS Wakankar

discovered Bhimbetika caves in 1957- 58

Bhi,betika cave paintings can be categorised into _ historical periods

7

Largest no of paintings in Bhimbetika are during this period

Period II- Mesolithic

Colours used in Bhimbetika

White, yellow, Orange , red ochre, purple, brown, green and black but most were white and red.

Made by grinding various rocks and minerals

Red Pigment

Made with Hamaetite known as geru in India

Green Pigment

green variety of stone called Chalcedony

White Pigment

most probably made with limestone

Pigment making procedure

Crushing rock or mineral into powder

adding water

thick or sticky substance like animal fat or gum or resin from trees.

Brushes were made from

plant fibre

How did rock cave paintings survive?

It is believed that the colours have remained intact because of the chemical reaction of the oxide present on the surface of the rocks

Hunting scenes predominate in Mesolithic paintings. This is one such scene where a group of people are shown hunting a bison. Some injured men are depicted lying scattered on the ground. These paintings show mastery in the skill of drawing these forms.

In this picture hand-linked figures in dancing mode are shown. In fact, this is a recurrent theme. It also recalls the dancing scene from the Lakhudiyar rock painting found in Uttarakhand.

many rock-art sites often a new painting is painted on top of an older painting. At Bhimbetka, in some places, there are as many as ____ layers of paintings, one on top of another.

20

Indus Valley Emerged

second half of 3rd millenium ( 3000- 2001 BCE)

2 major sites of Indus Valley Civilisation

he cities of Harappa in the north and Mohenjodaro in the south

Harappa and Mohenjodaro are located in

Pakistan

Indian excavated sites of Indus Valley Civilization

Lothal and Dholavira in Gujarat, Rakhigarhi in Haryana, Ropar in Punjab, Kalibangan in Rajasthan, etc.

Bust of a Bearded Priest found in the Indus Valley Civilization

Statues were made of ____, _____ and _____

Stone, Bronze and Terracotta

The art of bronze-casting was practised on a wide scale in

Harappa

Steps to lost wax technique in bronze casting

wax figures were first covered with a coating of clay and allowed to dry

wax was heated and the molten wax was drained out through a tiny hole made in the clay cover

filled with molten metal which took the original shape of the object

Once the metal cooled, the clay cover was completely removed

Dancing Girl bronze statue found in Indus Valley Civilization

Buffalo with Uplifted head bronze statue in Kalibangan

the copper bird and dog are from

Lothal

Metal casting in

Daimabad and Maharashtra during later Harrapan and Chalcolithic period

mother goddess

Most important Terracotta figure

Indus Valley Civilization

Terracotta figure

Indus Valley Civilization

Compared to the stone and bronze statues the terracotta representations of human form are crude in the Indus Valley. They are more realistic in _____ sites and _____.

Gujarat; Kalibangan

a few figurines of bearded males with coiled hair, their posture rigidly upright, legs slightly apart, and the arms parallel to the sides of the body. The repetition of this figure in exactly the same position would suggest that he was a _____

deity

Archaeologists have discovered thousands of seals, mostly made of_______, and occasionally of _______(5)

steatite

agate, chert, copper, faience and terracotta

The seals were made with beautiful figures of animals, such as

unicorn bull, rhinoceros, tiger, elephant, bison, goat, buffalo, etc.

. The standard Harappan seal was a square plaque______square inches, made from ______.

2×2

steatite

The purpose of producing seals was mainly _____

Commerical

Some seals have also been found in

ivory

Unicorn Seal

Indus Valley Civilization

Pashupati Seal/ female deity

about the pashupati/ female deity seal

a human figure seated cross-legged. An elephant and a tiger are depicted to the right side of the seated figure, while on the left a rhinoceros and a buffalo are seen. In addition to these animals two antelopes are shown below the seat. Seals such as these date from between 2500 and 1900 BCE and were found in considerable numbers

Burin

Intaglio

a printmaking technique that involves engraving an image into a printing plate. The incised lines hold ink, which is then transferred to paper to create a print

. The Indus Valley pottery consists chiefly of very fine ____wares, very few being hand-made

wheelmade