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Basāwan, or Basāvan (flourished 1580–1600), was an Indian miniature painter in the Mughal style. He was known by his contemporaries as a skilled colorist and keen observer of human nature, and for his use of portraiture in the illustrations of ''
Over 100 paintings are attributed to Basawan. His earliest mention is found in an illustrated version of Tutinama c. 1556-61. Most of them are illustrations for manuscripts. In many of them, Basawan was the designer, in collaboration with a second artist who supplied the color. Among the works that can definitely be attributed to Basawan are illustrations for the ''Razmnama'', the '' Akbar-nama'', the '' Darab-nama'', the ''Baharistan of Jami'' and the ''Timur-name''.
Basawan was one of the first Indian artists to be interested in western techniques, inspired by the European paintings brought to Akbar's court by Jesuit missionaries. It can be seen in his use of strong contrasts of light and shade, although Western influence is never predominant in his work. Basawan was also noted for his exploration of space, the delineation of his backgrounds, the strength of his colors, and the strong, moving characterizations of his subjects. Abu al-Fadl 'Allami, historiographer for Akbar, wrote about Basawan: "In designing and portrait painting and colouring and painting illusionistically... he became unrivalled in the world"."Basavan", Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Despite these significant contributions to
The Emperors' album: images of Mughal India
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Basawan {{DEFAULTSORT:Basawan Indian male painters Painters from the Mughal Empire 16th-century Indian painters Indian portrait painters Painters from Uttar Pradesh 16th-century Mughal Empire people Date of death unknown Date of birth unknown
Akbarnama
The ''Akbarnama (; )'', is the official chronicle of the reign of Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor (), commissioned by Akbar himself and written by his court historian and biographer, Abul Fazl. It was written in Persian, which was the literary l ...
'', Mughal Emperor
The emperors of the Mughal Empire, who were all members of the Timurid dynasty (House of Babur), ruled the empire from its inception on 21 April 1526 to its dissolution on 21 September 1857. They were supreme monarchs of the Mughal Empire in ...
, Akbar
Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...
's official Biography, which is seen as an innovation in Indian art
Indian art consists of a variety of art forms, including painting, sculpture, pottery, and textile arts such as woven silk. Geographically, it spans the entire Indian subcontinent, including what is now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, N ...
.Illustration from the Akbarnama: History of AkbarArt Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
Biography
Little is known of the life of Basawan. He was anahir
Ahir or Aheer (derived from the Sanskrit word: abhira) is a community of traditionally non-elite pastoralists in India, most of whom now use the Yadav surname, as they consider the two terms synonymous. The Ahirs are variously described as a ...
from Uttar Pradesh who became a court painter for Akbar
Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...
, where he came under the influence of Abd al-Samad. Only four artists have been commented on in the Ain-i-Akbari. It includes Sayyid Ali, Abd al-Samad, Daswanth and Basawan. Basawan's son Manohar Das succeeded him as a court painter. His family still lives in their heritage home in Kala Mahal, Agra
Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...
. Currently, the family is holding a manufacturing and export business of handmade carpets (Diamond Carpets).
Work
Over 100 paintings are attributed to Basawan. His earliest mention is found in an illustrated version of Tutinama c. 1556-61. Most of them are illustrations for manuscripts. In many of them, Basawan was the designer, in collaboration with a second artist who supplied the color. Among the works that can definitely be attributed to Basawan are illustrations for the ''Razmnama'', the '' Akbar-nama'', the '' Darab-nama'', the ''Baharistan of Jami'' and the ''Timur-name''.
Basawan was one of the first Indian artists to be interested in western techniques, inspired by the European paintings brought to Akbar's court by Jesuit missionaries. It can be seen in his use of strong contrasts of light and shade, although Western influence is never predominant in his work. Basawan was also noted for his exploration of space, the delineation of his backgrounds, the strength of his colors, and the strong, moving characterizations of his subjects. Abu al-Fadl 'Allami, historiographer for Akbar, wrote about Basawan: "In designing and portrait painting and colouring and painting illusionistically... he became unrivalled in the world"."Basavan", Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Despite these significant contributions to Mughal Art
Mughal painting is a South Asian style of painting on paper made in to miniatures either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums ( muraqqa), originating from the territory of the Mughal Empire in the Indian subcontinent. It ...
, he is not recognized on a wide scale outside of academia regarding art in the Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the Prime Meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the 180th meridian.- The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Geopolitically, ...
.
Citations
References
*"Basavan", in ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 12 March 2009 from ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Online: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/54676/Basavan *Rizvi, S. A. A., "Basawan", ''Academic American Encyclopedia
''Academic American Encyclopedia'' is a 21-volume general English language, English-language encyclopedia published in 1980. It was first produced by Arête Publishing, the American subsidiary of the Dutch publishing company Nielsen Company, VNU''K ...
'', 1991 edition, volume 3, p. 101.
External links
The Emperors' album: images of Mughal India
an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Basawan {{DEFAULTSORT:Basawan Indian male painters Painters from the Mughal Empire 16th-century Indian painters Indian portrait painters Painters from Uttar Pradesh 16th-century Mughal Empire people Date of death unknown Date of birth unknown