Seeing the spiritual behind the material: traditional Indian art at the Asia Society.

• Author: Castronovo, Val

The Asia Society on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City, in close proximity to UN Headquarters, launched two glittering shows devoted to the arts of India. In the Realm of Gods and Kings and When Gold Blossoms opened simultaneously in the fall of 2004 as part of the Society's special initiative to present the past, present and future of India. The exhibitions featured more than 200 works from two dazzling private collections, many on display for the first time. These jewels represent the Society's continuing effort to showcase unfamiliar artworks.

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As Asia Society's new President and curator, Vishakha Desai writes in the Foreword to the handsome catalogue for Gods and Kings: "From its inception, the Asia Society has made a commitment to present the best of Asian art in ways that can open up broader vistas of Asian cultures. The exhibition, In the Realm of Gods and Kings, continues and strengthens our efforts to create innovative approaches to appreciating Asian cultures through artistic traditions."

Enter the darkened gallery rooms on the Society's third floor and be transported to two worlds--one earthly, the other divine. The focus is on brilliantly coloured miniature paintings from the 16th to the 19th century, culled from the collection of Cynthia and Leon Polsky and their donations to the Metropolitan Museum. The courtly pursuits of kings and princes, Mughal emperors and Hindu Rajput rulers, vie with the romantic goings-on of gods and gopi maidens, Krishna and his human paramour, Radha, to be specific. The reigning Muslim Mughal emperors of the 16th to early 17th century took their cues from their Western European counterparts and patronized artists who eschewed idealized portraits and paintings in favour of realistic, highly individualistic pictures rendered in documentary-style detail.

As the exhibit text explains, "until the 16th century, there are few realistic representations of Indian rulers or courtiers. However, the early Mughals showed a new and restless inquisitiveness about man and nature, focusing attention on the individual, the particular and the idiosyncratic," a clear echo of Renaissance tenets. The tiny portrait of A lady at a window (Mughal; ca. 1750) is a case in point. So-called window portraits, creating the illusion that the viewer can peer through a window, had characterized Mughal art since the 17th century, mimicking Renaissance portraits in their use of perspective to create the...