The Way of the Master – The Great Artists of India

The exhbition, The Way of the Master – The Great Artists of India, 1100–1900 opens at Museum Rietberg Zurich this April, bringing to Switzerland 800 years of Indian painting and about 200 masterpieces. [dated March 2011]

The exhbition, The Way of the Master – The Great Artists of India, 1100–1900 opens at Museum Rietberg Zurich this April, bringing to Switzerland 800 years of Indian painting and about 200 masterpieces by more than 40 artists.

Seasoned journalists S Kalidas, Associate Editor India Today, Aveek Kumar Sen, Senior Asistant Editor The Telegraph and Baradwaj Rangan, Deputy Editor The Hindu will be in Zürich on the invitation of Museum Rietberg to attend the opening of the exhibition.

THE WAY OF THE MASTERS – The Great Artists of India, 1100–1900
1 May to 21 August 2011

800 years of Indian painting, some 240 masterpieces by more than 40 artists – and all this at a glance. For the first time an exhibition offers a comprehensive overview of the entire history of Indian painting. What makes it even more exciting is that the focus throughout is on individual painters.

Museum Rietberg has decided to celebrate the work of Indian painters from every region of the sub-continent over the last eight centuries. This exhibition is the result of decades of painstaking research. To identify individual artists, microscopically small signatures were deciphered, pilgrim registers were searched for artists’ names and genealogies, and systematic stylistic comparisons were made. Once more, Museum Rietberg is doing pioneering work and is also accompanying the exhibition with a major publication which should provide new bases for further research.

More than forty artists stand at the centre of the exhibition, and their works convey a broad and comprehensive idea of Indian painting to the visitors. The earliest exhibits are illustrated manuscripts from the twelfth century; the latest works from the early twentieth century are large-format paintings from Udaipur which in their choice of composition and perspective reveal the growing influence of photography. The exhibition which was conceived by the Museum Rietberg will also be shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York from 26 September 2011 to 8 January 2012.

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

12 April 2011 – 1 April 2012 
Tradition and Innovation: Three Painter Generations in North India In the Park-Villa Rieter more treasures by the famous family of painters around Pandit Seu from the north Indian Pahari region can be seen.

1 May 2011, 15.00 Masters on Masters Short talks by three distinguished specialists in Indian art history, Milo C. Beach, B.N. Goswamy and Eberhard Fischer (in English) Park-Villa Rieter

8 and 15 May 2011, 12.00 Nainsukh – A Film by Amit Dutta Matinée at Filmpodium Zürich Information and Reservations: www.filmpodium.ch

19 and 26 May 2011, 19.30–21.00 Wonders of their Time: The World of Indian Painters Course by Jorrit Britschgi (in German) Volkhochschule des Kantons Zürich Information and Reservations: www.vhszh.ch

22 May 2011, 11.00 The World of Indian Painters Talk by Jorrit Britschgi, curator of the exhibition (in German) Park-Villa Rieter

9 July 2011, 20.00 The Zurich Chamber Orchestra at the Museum Rietberg

For further information: www.rietberg.ch