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History does not misplace a movement that rewrites the rules of its region across a time span of two centuries, but few of the 58 paintings in Garden and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur have ever been seen in the wider world, even by scholars.
Their base is the miniature. Jodhpur painters could produce palm-size cosmologies full of gods and goddesses, kings and queens, dancing girls, flute players, warrior monkeys and battles waged on the backs of elephants.
Over time, however, they allowed themselves more room. And instead of filling bigger spaces in a miniaturist style, they expanded into wider worlds with open, rolling rhythms and colors with air in them. The jewel-box shine of the miniature became the saffron and sherbet shades of a dynamic pleasure dome.
However gorgeous, and it is gorgeous, such a show wouldn’t be expected to attract big numbers in Seattle, even with ecstatic local reviews (here, here, here and here). My favorite review headline from this group (first click) comes from Jen Graves – Your Brain Lights Up With Happiness.
Yes it does. Maybe outrageous skill and blissed-out iconography are more powerful attractions than previously imagined, or maybe it’s the Slumdog effect – all things Indian riding the Slumdog wave.
Whatever the reason, SAM reports that Garden and Cosmos is running 200 percent over the museum’s optimistic pre-crash projections. It’s on view at the museum’s sleepy satellite venue, the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park. Its numbers are dwarfed only by King Tut in 1978 and Bruce Guenther’s Jacob Lawrence retrospective in 1986, both before SAM moved its headquarters downtown.
Speaking of downtown, SAM’s doing well there too. Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness is attracting the pre-crash projection of 20,000 visitors in the first three weeks. Considering the attendance dive SAM experienced after the economy fell apart in the last year of the Bush administration, that number is amazing.
Possibly it has something to do with this. Advertising its pay-what-you-can admission policy (instead of keeping it a secret), was second on this list of what SAM needs to do to connect with a younger audience. So far, so good.
All painting at Seattle Art Museum are all amazing. There was one painting that stuck out to me; It was of a girl with her back facing, standing by an Olive Tree.