To agree with Boris Efimovich Groys, art has its own power in the world. It has the power to compel a voyeuristic gaze, just as it has the power to transform the mindset of the gazer through the magic of enchantment. Art also reveals the processes of secondary imagination or the creative process involved in the assimilation of cultures and the transmutation of the same. My presentation would attempt to analyze certain features of Indian art under the European influence, with special focus on the paintings by Ravi Verma (1848-1906), in whose paintings the traditions of European academic art has finely fused with the Indian mythological traditions. Abanindranath Tagore’s (1871-1951) paintings, depicting Asian styles under the pan-Asian influence, Amrita Sher-Gil’s (1913-41) introducing the Avant garde Western styles into Indian art are also part of this presentation. While I would wish to briefly trace the aesthetics of the feminine in Indian temple architecture before moving on to the creative works of these painters in the 20th century, among the recent artists I intend to take up the paintings by Amruta Patil (1979-) and Laxman Aelay (1965-) from very different traditions and cultural imagination, profoundly Indian. For my analysis of Indian aesthetics I would be majorly drawing from the theories of Coomarawamy and Aurobindo for understanding the creative process of these painters in their rendition of the Indian Feminine.
Jayita Sengupta