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Introduction to Indian art
Painting and drawing were the oldest art forms practised by human beings to express themselves, using
the cave walls as their canvas.
The prehistoric period in the early development of human beings is commonly known as the Old Stone
Age or the Palaeolithic Age.
The subjects of their drawings were human figures, human activities, geometric designs and animal
symbols.
In India the earliest paintings have been reported from the Upper Palaeolithic times.
rock paintings on walls of the caves in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and
Bihar, Kumaon hills in Uttarakhand.
The rock shelters on banks of the River Suyal at Lakhudiyar, about twenty kilometres on the Almora–
Barechina road, Uttarakhand, bear these prehistoric paintings.
The paintings here can be divided into three categories: man, animal and geometric patterns in white,
black and red ochre.
Humans are represented in stick-like forms.
A long-snouted animal, a fox and a multiple legged lizard are the main animal motifs.
Wavy lines, rectangle-filled geometric designs, and groups of dots can also be seen
hand-linked dancing human figures.
There is some superimposition of paintings. The earliest are in black; over these are red ochre paintings
and the last group comprises white paintings.
The granite rocks of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh: Neolithic paintings
The subjects depicted are bulls, elephants, sambhars, gazelles, sheep, goats, horses, stylised humans,
tridents, but rarely, vegetal motifs.
Richest paintings are reported from the Vindhya ranges of Madhya Pradesh and their Kaimurean
extensions into Uttar Pradesh.
full of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic remains.
they are also full of forests, wild plants, fruits, streams and creeks, thus a perfect place for Stone
Age people to live.
Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh is famous site. (eight hundred rock shelters, five hundred of
which bear paintings.)
, UNESCO world heritage site.
Themes of these paintings:
mundane events of daily life
sacred and royal images.
hunting, dancing, music, horse and elephant riders, animal fighting, honey collection, decoration
of bodies, and other household scenes
Bhimbetka paintings:
rock art of Bhimbetka has been classified into:
Period I, Upper Palaeolithic
Period II, Mesolithic
Period III, Chalcolithic
After Period III there are four successive periods
Upper Palaeolithic Period:
linear representations in green and dark red, of huge animal figures
ex: bisons, elephants, tigers, rhinos and boars
stick-like human figures
geometric patterns
The green paintings are of dancers and the red ones of hunters
Mesolithic Period:
largest number of paintings belong to this period
themes are multiple but the paintings are smaller in size
Hunting scenes predominate.
The hunting scenes depict people hunting in groups, armed with barbed spears, pointed sticks,
arrows and bows
The hunters are shown wearing simple clothes and ornaments.
loved to paint animals
some show a fear of animals, but many others show a feeling of tenderness and love for them.
animals were painted in a naturalistic style, humans were depicted only in a stylistic manner.
Women are painted both in the nude and clothed
Children are painted running, jumping and playing.
various shades of white, yellow, orange, red ochre, purple, brown, green and black. But white and
red were their favourite colours
They got red from haematite (known as geru in India)
White might have been made out of limestone.
It is believed that the colours have remained intact because of the chemical reaction of the oxide
present on the surface of the rocks.
there is a charm of simple rendering of scenes of the environment in which the artists lived
The animals are shown more youthful and majestic than perhaps they actually were
, The primitive artists seem to possess an intrinsic passion for storytelling. Hunting scenes,
bisons being hunted some men lying injured. etc.
dancing scenes are recurrent theme.
At Bhimbetka, in some places, there are as many as 20 layers of paintings, one on top of
another.
Pandavulagutta [telangana] is home to painted rock shelters dating back to 10000 BC-8000 BC,
an 8th century inscription of the Rashtrakuta period, and painted frescoes from the 12th century
Kakatiya empire.
The rock paintings resemble those at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh, with flora, fauna and
human figures seen in red ochre.
Importance of rock painting:
help us to understand about early human beings, their lifestyle, their food habits, their daily
activities and, above all, they help us understand their mind—the way they thought.
the rock paintings are the greatest wealth the pre-historic human beings of this period left behind.
The rock shelters and caves provide a rare glimpse into human settlement and cultural
evolution from hunter-gatherers, to agriculture, and expressions of prehistoric spirituality.
Figure of a man with trident is present. [He has been named as Nataraja]
Figures of yakshas, tree gods etc. represent their religious beliefs.
hunting scenes predominate.
Group dances depict communitarian ethos.
As they transition from paleolithic to mesolithic to neolithic period, evidence of agriculture
emerge.
ART OF THE INDUS VALLEY
emerged during the second half of the third millennium BCE.
include sculptures, seals, pottery, jewellery, terracotta figures, etc
delineation of human and animal figures was highly realistic in nature.
in the case of terracotta art, the modelling of animal figures was done in an extremely careful
manner
Stone Statues
not abundant, but refined.
excellent examples of handling three-dimensional volumes.
two male figures—one is a torso in red sandstone and the other is a bust of a bearded man in
soapstone are popular.
The figure of the bearded man [found in Mohan jo daro] interpreted as a priest, is draped in a
shawl coming under the right arm and covering the left shoulder. The eyes are a little elongated,
and half-closed as in meditative concentration.
An armlet is worn on the right hand and holes around the neck suggest a necklace
Introduction to Indian art
Painting and drawing were the oldest art forms practised by human beings to express themselves, using
the cave walls as their canvas.
The prehistoric period in the early development of human beings is commonly known as the Old Stone
Age or the Palaeolithic Age.
The subjects of their drawings were human figures, human activities, geometric designs and animal
symbols.
In India the earliest paintings have been reported from the Upper Palaeolithic times.
rock paintings on walls of the caves in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and
Bihar, Kumaon hills in Uttarakhand.
The rock shelters on banks of the River Suyal at Lakhudiyar, about twenty kilometres on the Almora–
Barechina road, Uttarakhand, bear these prehistoric paintings.
The paintings here can be divided into three categories: man, animal and geometric patterns in white,
black and red ochre.
Humans are represented in stick-like forms.
A long-snouted animal, a fox and a multiple legged lizard are the main animal motifs.
Wavy lines, rectangle-filled geometric designs, and groups of dots can also be seen
hand-linked dancing human figures.
There is some superimposition of paintings. The earliest are in black; over these are red ochre paintings
and the last group comprises white paintings.
The granite rocks of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh: Neolithic paintings
The subjects depicted are bulls, elephants, sambhars, gazelles, sheep, goats, horses, stylised humans,
tridents, but rarely, vegetal motifs.
Richest paintings are reported from the Vindhya ranges of Madhya Pradesh and their Kaimurean
extensions into Uttar Pradesh.
full of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic remains.
they are also full of forests, wild plants, fruits, streams and creeks, thus a perfect place for Stone
Age people to live.
Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh is famous site. (eight hundred rock shelters, five hundred of
which bear paintings.)
, UNESCO world heritage site.
Themes of these paintings:
mundane events of daily life
sacred and royal images.
hunting, dancing, music, horse and elephant riders, animal fighting, honey collection, decoration
of bodies, and other household scenes
Bhimbetka paintings:
rock art of Bhimbetka has been classified into:
Period I, Upper Palaeolithic
Period II, Mesolithic
Period III, Chalcolithic
After Period III there are four successive periods
Upper Palaeolithic Period:
linear representations in green and dark red, of huge animal figures
ex: bisons, elephants, tigers, rhinos and boars
stick-like human figures
geometric patterns
The green paintings are of dancers and the red ones of hunters
Mesolithic Period:
largest number of paintings belong to this period
themes are multiple but the paintings are smaller in size
Hunting scenes predominate.
The hunting scenes depict people hunting in groups, armed with barbed spears, pointed sticks,
arrows and bows
The hunters are shown wearing simple clothes and ornaments.
loved to paint animals
some show a fear of animals, but many others show a feeling of tenderness and love for them.
animals were painted in a naturalistic style, humans were depicted only in a stylistic manner.
Women are painted both in the nude and clothed
Children are painted running, jumping and playing.
various shades of white, yellow, orange, red ochre, purple, brown, green and black. But white and
red were their favourite colours
They got red from haematite (known as geru in India)
White might have been made out of limestone.
It is believed that the colours have remained intact because of the chemical reaction of the oxide
present on the surface of the rocks.
there is a charm of simple rendering of scenes of the environment in which the artists lived
The animals are shown more youthful and majestic than perhaps they actually were
, The primitive artists seem to possess an intrinsic passion for storytelling. Hunting scenes,
bisons being hunted some men lying injured. etc.
dancing scenes are recurrent theme.
At Bhimbetka, in some places, there are as many as 20 layers of paintings, one on top of
another.
Pandavulagutta [telangana] is home to painted rock shelters dating back to 10000 BC-8000 BC,
an 8th century inscription of the Rashtrakuta period, and painted frescoes from the 12th century
Kakatiya empire.
The rock paintings resemble those at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh, with flora, fauna and
human figures seen in red ochre.
Importance of rock painting:
help us to understand about early human beings, their lifestyle, their food habits, their daily
activities and, above all, they help us understand their mind—the way they thought.
the rock paintings are the greatest wealth the pre-historic human beings of this period left behind.
The rock shelters and caves provide a rare glimpse into human settlement and cultural
evolution from hunter-gatherers, to agriculture, and expressions of prehistoric spirituality.
Figure of a man with trident is present. [He has been named as Nataraja]
Figures of yakshas, tree gods etc. represent their religious beliefs.
hunting scenes predominate.
Group dances depict communitarian ethos.
As they transition from paleolithic to mesolithic to neolithic period, evidence of agriculture
emerge.
ART OF THE INDUS VALLEY
emerged during the second half of the third millennium BCE.
include sculptures, seals, pottery, jewellery, terracotta figures, etc
delineation of human and animal figures was highly realistic in nature.
in the case of terracotta art, the modelling of animal figures was done in an extremely careful
manner
Stone Statues
not abundant, but refined.
excellent examples of handling three-dimensional volumes.
two male figures—one is a torso in red sandstone and the other is a bust of a bearded man in
soapstone are popular.
The figure of the bearded man [found in Mohan jo daro] interpreted as a priest, is draped in a
shawl coming under the right arm and covering the left shoulder. The eyes are a little elongated,
and half-closed as in meditative concentration.
An armlet is worn on the right hand and holes around the neck suggest a necklace
