Re-View: S231 (Islamic rotation: 7) Company to Crown

The hybrid Indo-European style known as Company painting developed in India beginning in the late 18th century, when agents of the British East India Company emerged as important patrons of Indian artists. This installation will focus on figural representations—typologies and portraits of individuals—demonstrating a shift in aesthetic sensibility between the period of the Company Raj (1757–1857) and that of the British Crown Raj (1857–1947). The paintings draw attention to the artistic cross-examination that took place between Britons and Indians and its delightfully curious results.

Curated by Maliha Noorani, 2009–11 Norma Jean Calderwood Curatorial Fellow, Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art, Harvard Art Museums.

The installation is made possible by the Islamic and Later Indian Art Scholarship Support Fund.