Baltazard Solvyns’ etchings of life in Bengal 200 years ago, on show for the first time as a complete set, stood apart from the more popular depictions by Europeans of the people and culture they encountered
DAG is presenting Solvyns’ complete collection of 288 etchings titled Les Hindous
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In 1791, Flemish painter Francois Baltazard Solvyns arrived in Calcutta [now Kolkata] in the hopes of making his fortune. Working initially as a journeyman artist for the upper middle classes, Solvyns eventually embarked on an ambitious project to create a series of etchings depicting the lives, manners, customs and dresses of the people he encountered over the decade he lived in Bengal. Between 1796 and 1799, he published his first collection of about 250 etchings in Calcutta, and a second, enlarged edition of 288 coloured plates in Paris during 1808-12. It is this complete series, which Solvyns called Les Hindoûs, that is being presented by DAG in an exhibition that opened on July 31 at Bikaner House, New Delhi, and will be on view until August 20. For those outside the city, DAG’s website is offering a view of the selection on display.
The collection includes depictions of representatives of every profession and level of Indian society, and documents festivals and various kinds of carriages and musical instruments that were in common use at the time. Pics Courtesy/Dag
With his focus on ordinary people and sombre moods, Solvyns’ portraits stood apart from the more picturesque and popular depictions of Indian landscapes and majestic structures by painters Thomas and William Daniell. “Most other European artists in India at the time sought to make their fortunes by painting portraits of wealthy nawabs or powerful East India Company officials; or building their reputations by depicting India’s magnificent buildings and scenery,” points out Dr Giles Tillotson, curator of the exhibition and Senior Vice President, Exhibitions and Publications at DAG. “But Solvyns roamed the back lanes of Calcutta and explored the city’s outlying districts to meet people of all kinds.”
The painter failed to secure permission from the board of the East India Company to live in Bengal, and stayed on the margins of European society, a fact that allowed him to engage more with different aspects of Indian life. “He includes an extraordinarily detailed and intimate portrait of and representatives of every profession and every level of Indian society, festivals and sacred rites; shows us animals, birds and insects, trees and crops; records all the various kinds of boats, carriages and musical instruments that were then in common use. From an historical and social perspective, Solvyns’ work, with its accompanying descriptions, constitutes the first great ethnographic survey of life in Bengal,” observes Dr Tillotson. The exhibition is also, he notes, “an exercise in showing Indian audiences a view of the country as seen by, and intended for, Western eyes.”
Giles Tillotson
The challenge of presenting such a large series, he shares, was in ensuring that it appeared accessible and digestible and not overwhelming. The exhibition is also accompanied by a book, The Hindus: Baltazard Solvyns in Bengal, authored by Dr Tillotson, that introduces, illustrates and contextualises this body of work, and reproduces over 80 of the plates full page, and the entire series as thumbnails.
WHAT: The Hindus: Baltazard Solvyns in Bengal
WHERE: https://dagworld.com/The_Hindus/
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