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Art museums and museum-exhibitions of art from the Indian subcontinent by DAG

05/03/2026

There is a an image of Mumbai traditionally celebrated by artists, media and in popular culture, as we saw in the last series. In this series of works the artists shift our focus onto the labour and lives of the working classes who have shaped the physical and social infrastructures of the city-like Nalini Malani’s depiction of cable layers or Chittaprosad’s linocut of workers at a foundry. These images also represent the performances, poetry and paintings being created within the city to celebrate the everyday lives of workers. The styles of the artworks attest to the circulation of popular media throughout the city, including posters, pamphlets and street performances that may have been ephemeral in nature, but informed calls to action and mediated popular responses to the city.

🎨 Altaf, Hands of Oppression, Oil on canvas, 1970, 39.0 x 27.0 in.

Chittaprosad, Untitled, Linocut on paper, 11.0 x 8.2 in., 15.0 x 11.0 in.

Navjot, Squeezed, Ink on paper, 1979, 19.2 x 12.2 in.

Sudhir Patwardhan, Untitled, Acrylic on canvas pasted on ply board, 1999, 20.0 x 20.0 in.

Nalini Malani, Laying a Cable, Gouache on paper, 1983, 11.0 x 15.0 in.

Navjot, Bhiwandi Collage I,1985, Serigraph on paper, 17.0 x 14.0 in.

Collection: DAG

Altaf, Hands of Oppression, Oil on canvas, 1970, 39.0 x 27.0 in.

Sudhir Patwardhan, Untitled, Acrylic on canvas pasted on ply board, 1999, 20.0 x 20.0 in.

03/03/2026

Watch the city of Mumbai unfold ground up and sometimes from a bird’s eye view through the work of modern artists. The city always shapes the artist and the artist in turn shapes the perception of the city. Join us for the programmes during ‘The City as a Museum: Mumbai Edition 2’ to learn how different artist's collectives, poets, workers, and performers have contributed in shaping Mumbai.

🎨 Unidentified Artist, 'Bombay from Malabar Hill by Night', Oil with paper on canvas, 20.0 × 31.7 in.

Baburao Sadwelkar, 'From Gateway of India', Watercolour on paper, 1951, 19.0 × 14.2 in.

S.G. Thakar Singh, 'Dusk at the Chowpatty, Mumbai',
Oil on canvas, 16.0 × 20.0 in.

Baburao Sadwelkar, 'Opposite to Metro Cinema, the Road Leading to Girgaum, the Red Tram Emerges through
the Shadows & Buildings', Watercolour on paper, 1951,
14.0 × 20.7 in.

Julian Barrow, 'Gateway of India from the RBYC, Bombay',
Oil on canvas, 2006, 11.0 × 14.0 in.

Collection: DAG

25/02/2026

REGISTRATIONS ARE NOW LIVE!!

Tap the link in bio!

23/02/2026

Registrations go live on 25 February at 6 PM!

Join us as we peek into Ambedkar's personal library, follow the footsteps of poets through Fort, trace the history of collaborations between artists and activists through the city, pay tribute to modernist visionaries in a Church and marvel at a distant past of Buddhist influences in the region.

20/02/2026

The ‘Oriental gaze’ of visiting artists often presented Eastern landscapes and monuments as objects of fascination and intrigue for the Western audience. Artists applied specific formulas of composition when painting destination sites like the Taj Mahal, Benaras, the Golden Temple or bazaars to make them appear romantic, mysterious, or timeless. Architecture was isolated in glowing light or drifting mist; with foliage, water bodies, and ‘exotic’ animals heightening the drama. Even when depicting the same sites, painters varied their emphasis—some focusing on architectural fragments, others on atmosphere or picturesque decay—while still reinforcing a shared visual language that turned the East into a spectacle. Sometimes to create this effect, the people inhabiting the space would become tiny smudges or the landscape would be manipulated to retain exotic effect.

While preserving a romantic vision, these stunning works still stand as a testament to the enduring interest in painting the subcontinent, even with the advent of the photographic medium. These artists who are not very popularly highlighted, came from all over—Britain, Germany, Amsterdam, America and even Japan, drawn by the mystery of the subcontinent.
Catch these and more at the exhibition 'Destination India' opening on 27 February at the Alipore Museum.

🎨 Yoshida Hiroshi, Taji Maharu no Asagiri, dai go / Morning Mist of Taj Mahal, No. 5, Japanese woodblock print on paper, 1932, 14.2 x 20.0 in. DAG Collection

Charles William Bartlett, The Golden Temple, Amritsar, Kokka woodblock print on paper, 1919, 10.0 x 15.0 in. DAG Collection

John Griffiths, Blackbuck Hunting with Cheetah in India (The Attack), Oil on canvas, 15.0 x 30.0 in. DAG Collection

Richard Robert Drabble, The Mosque of Aurangzeb, Benares, Oil on canvas, 1863, 24.0 x 36.0 in. DAG Collection

Charles William Bartlett, Silk Merchants, India, Kokka woodblock print on paper, 1919, 10.0 x 14.5 in. DAG Collection

William Carpenter, Delhi: A Street at back of Jumma Musjid, Wood engraving on paper, 1857, 8.7 x 12.2 in. DAG Collection

31/10/2025

As a prelude to its fifth edition in Kolkata, ‘The City as a Museum’ travels to Santiniketan and the terracotta temples of Birbhum to trace the construction of a modernist
architectural idiom influenced by diverse historic styles, to explore the evolving identities of built spaces through walks, music, and field sketching.

Register now from the link in bio!
See you in Santiniketan.

27/10/2025

Monday Mood with ft. our favourite Kalighat Pats.

If the week gets you down, drop by our exhibition The Babu & The Bazaar at Alipore Museum for some art and laughs.

All images from the DAG Collection.

23/10/2025

Announcing our three-part programmes for The Babu and The Bazaar!

Extending the exhibition's enquiry into the intertwined worlds of art, commerce and urban modernity, this series of programmes revisits the 19th century Calcutta bazaar as a site of circulation of images, objects and ideas. Tapati Guha Thakurta traces the journey of these artworks from drawing rooms and markets to gallery spaces, Bijleeraj Patra's riddle trail deciphers iconographies through a playful weave of myth and folklore and Supriya Chaudhuri's reading session of contemporary literature looks into women stepping into the bazaar milieu as customers.
from the link in bio!

14/03/2025

Dr Saryu Doshi, one of the founding directors of NGMA Mumbai, joined us for the keynote address for the first Mumbai Edition of The City as a Museum.

She took the audience through selected artworks from the J. J. School collection, tracing the establishment of art schools in colonial India and the evolution of the Bombay School. She shared anecdotes about some of the leading artists of Mumbai, many of whom she studied with during her brief student days at the School.

Highlighting the influence of miniature traditions—which also forms her chief area of scholarship—she spoke about the changes brought about by teachers such as J. M. Ahivasi, who also taught her. She delved into formal nuances of their ‘Indian painting’ style, such as the use of flat colours, line work, and exaggeration of figures based on their importance. She also highlighted political underpinnings of this move towards Indian style painting, explaining how modern artists adopted older forms to convey the experiences of contemporary politics, such as the nationalist movement that grew around Mahatma Gandhi’s leadership. In the work by M. L. Talwalkar shown above, for instance, she highlighted the stylised use of space, and the sharp angles of the walled enclosure which conveyed a sense of oppression and incarceration, demanding a rebellious break. Artists like Talwalkar and Lalita Joshi synthesised form with political reality—leading to a radical reckoning of the School’s commitment to the values of an emergent identity.

🎨 Unknown
Gouache, c. 1951

M. L. Talwalkar
Gouache, 1941

11/03/2025

Now on View: DAG and Sir J. J. School of Art present ‘Shifting Visions: Teaching Modern Art at the Bombay School’.

Mumbai is one of the most important centers for the emergence of Indian modern art and this landmark exhibition traces its genesis from the establishment of the Sir J. J. School in 1857 to the cusp of Independence.

With artists as varied as orientalists like John Griffiths, expressionists like Charles Gerrard, muralists and academic painters like Gladstone Solomon and M. V. Dhurandhar, ‘Open Air’ watercolourists like M. K. Parandekar—the Bombay School defies easy categorisations. By juxtaposing student works with masterpieces, and stepping into the classrooms of the School, the exhibition highlights the methods of observational, ‘scientific’ drawing that underlies these variegated expressions of Modernism.

Featuring 49 artists and over 200 artworks and archival materials, some of which has never been on view before, this exhibition continues from 8 to 23 March as part of DAG’s ‘The City as a Museum’ festival in Mumbai.

🖼️Shifting Visions: Teaching Modern Art at the Bombay School
8 to 23 March, 2025 (except 14 and 15 March)
10 am to 6 pm daily
Sir J. J. School of Art, Architecture and Design, Mumbai

10/03/2025

'The City as a Museum: Mumbai Edition 1’ began with a grand opening and high tea at the historic Sir J. J School of Art.

Chief Guest Dr Pheroza Godrej opened the landmark exhibition ‘Shifting Visions: Teaching Modern Art at the Bombay School’. The exhibition brings together the collections of DAG and the J. J. School for the first time. It presents one of the most ambitious exhibitions of works by artists of the Bombay School—from John Griffiths, to M. V. Dhurandhar, P. T. Reddy and many others.

The exhibition is on view and open to all from 8 March to 23 March, 10 am to 6 pm daily (except 14 and 15 March).

Address

Santiiketan
Bolpur
731204

Opening Hours

Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm
Saturday	9am - 5pm
Sunday	9am - 5pm

Website

https://www.dagworld.com/

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