"Garden and Cosmos" reveals the magic and majesty of India
"Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur," an exhibition of large-scale Rajasthan art showing through April 26 at Seattle Asian Art Museum, is less an art exhibition and more an intimate secret.
Most of the 58 paintings on display have never before been seen in the United States, and rarely seen in their native land; for all intents and purposes, these masterworks have languished in the closet of a Jodhpur palace since they were created hundreds of years ago.
Painted between the 17th and 19th centuries, the works of "Garden and Cosmos" reveal a country and culture with a passion for art and storytelling. Many of the paintings are enormous — some several feet in width — yet are so finely detailed that to examine potions of them, you need a magnifying glass (which the museum thoughtfully provides.)
The paintings depict life in the royal court (Maharaja Bakhat Singh seemingly commissioned pictures of all his celebrations. Paintings bring together historical and religious figures (Jallandharnath and Genesha figure prominently into many of the works), and some of the paintings dare to imagine enlightenment itself, depicted as figures floating in space (hence the "Cosmos").
You can learn from these works — captions and printed materials explain each in detail — or you can simply lose yourself in their otherworldly magic.
The paintings of "Garden and Cosmos" are so rich with color, light and visual poetry that it's almost impossible to imagine the remarkable events that inspired their creation.
However they came to be, it's a good thing indeed that these works didn't spend their entire existence hidden away. Sights this wonderful deserve to be seen.
- by Geoff Carter, Seattle Reporter for HelloMetro
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