Watercolour exhibition captures the beauty of architectural historical monuments

Throwing light on the majestic monuments, a new art exhibition brings the beauty of them in watercolours (Source: PR Handout)

Titled Portraits for Conservation, the art exhibition at Annexe Art Gallery, India International Center Annexe, Lodi Estate from March 9-15, 2022 from 11 am to 7 pm, captures the works of Himanish Das (Source: PR Handout)

Batashewala Complex (Source: PR Handout)

From the collection of Agha Khan Trust for Culture, the works depict Humayun's Tomb, Isa Khan's Tomb, Rahim's Tomb, Batashewala Complex among others; Humayun's Tomb (Source: PR Handout)

Isa Khan's Tomb (Source: PR Handout)

The artist, trained as an architect, Das simultaneously pursued an art historical interest in the artistic and architectural traditions of the Mughals and the various Rajput schools, which culminated in a PhD in England in 2005 (Source: PR Handout)

"Through my research, I saw unique ways of depicting architecture in Indian paintings, more as a sequence of architectural, or rather complete spatial experiences, rather than mere illustrations of buildings as such. I was also deeply attracted to the Company school paintings, commissioned by the British, particularly the genre of architectural illustrations. They seemed to combine the extreme refinement and delicacy of the Indian miniature traditions with a degree of photographic representation," said Das in a statement; Rahim's Tomb (Source: PR Handout)

While most of the works in the exhibition serve a technical purpose with measurements, proportions, and design elements which are "accurate, and historically authentic", Das views them as "record documents for posterity, for art historical research in the future". "However, I have also viewed them as much more than merely functional/technical works and have tried to infuse my collective artistic experience in them, hopefully giving them a life of their own," he said in the statement (Source: PR Handout)