The Enigmatic Image: Curious Subjects in Indian Art

South Asian Archaeology 2001, Volume II, Historical Archaeology and Art History, 2005

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 2002

The collecting and study of Indian painting have been central to Ludwig Habighorst's life. A chance encounter with Indian miniatures nearly fifty years ago ignited this lifelong passion. For Habighorst, a professor of Radiology, collecting has been a creative and sensual process where he has been guided by his eye and curiosity rather than by a purely academic focus. Hence his partiality for Pahari painting and his particular interest in the visual expression of human nature with its many vicissitudes.

Pratnatattva, 2016

The emergence and development of the production of religious stone images in Bengal still proves to be a fascinating and intriguing topic; this paper focuses on a group of ninth-and tenth-century images illustrating different iconographic topics which were discovered in various regions of Bengal. Through their iconography, but also through their style, these images are directly related to the artistic production of Magadha at the same period. They lay the foundation for the genuinely Bengali manufacturing of religious images which will however distinguish itself in the eleventh and twelfth centuries from the contemporary ateliers in Bihar, with very specific stylistic features and iconographies. Their very unique iconography which is displayed in some cases show these deities as powerful and basically peaceful beings; the mere presence of such images in a religious landscape which had up to then been practically empty virtually illustrates them taking ownership of the soil where they were going to be venerated.

Politically this period of Indian history is dominated by three historic shifts. The first is the rapid decline of the Mughal empire under the battering of successive waves of attack, both external and internal. The three great provinces of Bengal, Avadh in and Hyderabad effectively became independent under hereditary rulers. The second is the rise of the Hindu Marathas from the Deccan, a warrior confederacy which had unsuccessfully challenged the might of Aurangzeb earlier but which now proved strong enough to exert its power throughout India. Rajasthan, Gujarat and the central provinces were abandoned by the Mughals to the Marathas, whose annual raids north were allied to an imperial system based on tribute. Had their political acumen been the equal of their martial prowess, the third great shift might not have happened. This was the advance of the East India Company from its coastal trading stations to the possession of half of India, which with the ending of the Mysore and Maratha wars offered effective resistance only in the Punjab.

Sultans of Deccan India, 1500–1700: Opulence and Fantasy., 2015

Hegewald, Julia (ed.): Jaina Painting and Manuscript Culture. In Memory of Paolo Pianarosa. Studies in Asian Art and Culture 3, pp. 201-213, Berlin: EB Verlag, 2015

Gujarat Museum Society, Ahmedabad, 2013

The world renowned N.C. Mehta Collection of Indian miniature paintings represent most of the schools and wide range of themes from 16" to 19th century. It is housed in Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum in Ahmedabad since 1993. The present publication is the second volume in the series of publications made possible by the Financial Assistance of Ministry of Culture. In Volume I, entitled, Gujarati School and Jaina Manuscript Paintings, the author has located the Western Indian style of Jaina painting within Gujarat with epicenter at Patan, Together with N.C. Mehta's collection of Jaina manuscript paintings, were grouped the early Gita Govinda folios and the Chaurapañchāśikā paintings, which collectively represent the Gujarat School. The Volume II takes up the story further, to cover the bulk of remaining schools of paintings beginning with Rajasthani and followed by Central Indian (Malwa, Orccha, Datia) and Mughal schools, which naturally formed self-contained chapters. Mehta had an eye for portraits which offered the opportunity to write on Indian artists' competence in the genre of portraiture, and delve into the intricacies of dynastic histories. Paintings based on sengāra literature in Sanskrit and Braj bhāsā languages are elaborately interpreted. Guest authors collaborated in covering Ragamala theme, besides Persian illustrated folios and Nepalese Vajrayana paintings. The rich and varied collection of Pahari paintings, was taken up in the initial volume by Karl Khandalavala. (c.1984). However, a number of fascinating unpublished drawings and curious set of small paintings are included here. Thus, this volume offers a complete range of N.C. Mehta collection and at the same time enables to build a comprehensive character of the multifaceted maturity of art of painting in India over four centuries. The author has continued the methodology of drawing attention to the artist's personality by exploring artists' individuality when necessary. Both the volumes have also been exercises based on the concept of Catalogue Raisonné. The present volume has been graced by the Foreword of the eminent art historian Rai Anand Krishna, who has written on the friendship between his illustrious art-historian father, Rai Krishna Das and N.C. Mehta.