Remote renaissance | Exhibition of Pahari paintings @ Washington DC

In the foothills of the Himalayas, between steep valleys and scattered princely kingdoms, a remarkable artistic tradition flourished for centuries. Delicate, luminous and emotionally charged, Pahari paintings remain among the most captivating achievements in Indian art. Now, a major exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington DC is bringing these extraordinary works into renewed focus. Titled Of the Hills: Pahari Paintings from India’s Himalayan Kingdoms, the exhibition features 48 paintings and coloured drawings, including several works never before publicly displayed.

Created between the 17th and 19th centuries in the hill kingdoms of the Himalayas, Pahari paintings are celebrated for their vivid colours, poetic imagery and emotional depth. Combining Mughal influences with local devotional traditions, artists produced intricate works depicting Hindu epics, romance and sacred landscapes.

Curator Debra Diamond describes the paintings as “swoon-worthy”, noting that artists used opaque watercolours made from ground pigments, gold and even beetle wings to create radiant surfaces. Many works in the exhibition come from the Benkaim Collection, acquired by the museum in 2017 and 2018. The show also includes paintings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. “Together with other works from our museum’s rich South Asian and Himalayan collections, they allow us to deepen our understanding of Indian culture and pursue new avenues of scholarship,” says Chase F. Robinson, director of the National Museum of Asian Art.

The exhibition examines how artists helped shape ideas of the Himalaya as a sacred landscape. Inspired by texts such as the Bhagavata Purana and poetic traditions centred on Krishna, love and longing, the paintings possess an emotional intensity that continues to resonate today.

—The exhibition is on view till July 26