Brahminy Starling on Neem Tree Branch by Sheikh Zain al-Din

Brahminy Starling on Neem Tree Branch 1780

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drawing, watercolor

portrait

drawing

water colours

asian-art

watercolor

watercolour illustration

watercolor

Dimensions: 28 1/4 × 36 1/2 × 1 1/8 in. (71.76 × 92.71 × 2.86 cm) (outer frame)

Sheikh Zain al-Din created this watercolor on paper painting, titled "Brahminy Starling on Neem Tree Branch," which presents a striking study in contrasts. Notice how the eye is immediately drawn to the juxtaposition of the starling and the foliage. The diagonal branch bisects the pictorial space, grounding the composition while also creating a dynamic tension. The texture of the starling's plumage is meticulously rendered, contrasting with the smoother leaves of the Neem tree. This interplay of textures serves to animate the surface, engaging us in a tactile dialogue. The painting operates within a semiotic system that challenges fixed notions of representation. The muted palette, dominated by earthy tones and greens, works to destabilize any sense of idealization. The artist uses the formal elements to underscore the natural and the real, inviting us to reconsider our relationship with the natural world. The stark negative space surrounding the central motif emphasizes a formal quality of isolation, drawing our attention to the painting's structure while prompting a contemplative discourse on nature.

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minneapolisinstituteofart over 1 year ago

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The famed ‘Impey Album,’ to which these 11 natural history studies originally belonged, marks the beginning of a new school in the canon of Indian Painting: that is “Company Painting’’—so called after the British East India Company, which by 1757 had taken effective rule over the sub-continent—spanning from c. 1760-1880 and distinguished by native painters adapting to the needs of Colonial tastes. The result was an emergence of a distinctive Anglo-Indian aesthetic, which we see in the remarkable paintings here. Between 1777-1783, Lady Mary Impey, wife of the recently appointed Chief Justice of Bengal, Sir Elijah Impey, commissioned three artists: a Muslim, Shaik Zain ud-Din, and two Hindus, Bhawani Das and Ram Das (all of whom trained in a Provincial Mughal atelier in the neighboring city of Patna) to record the newfound wonders of her Calcutta aviary and menagerie.