Exhibition Dates: July 29, 2024–May 4, 2025
Location: The Met Fifth Avenue, Gallery 458
Co-curated by Filmmaker James Ivory, Ink and Ivory: Indian Drawings and Photographs Selected with James Ivory celebrates a recent gift to the Museum
The exhibition will be accompanied by an original short film directed by Dev Benegal
(New York, July 26, 2024)— Beginning July 29, 2024, The Metropolitan Museum of Art will present a selection of superlative drawings and photographs exploring the court life and culture of India and Pakistan from the late 16th to the 20th century. Drawn primarily from The Met collection and curated in partnership with Oscar-winning filmmaker James Ivory, Ink and Ivory: Indian Drawings and Photographs Selected with James Ivory will feature works that examine the intersection and shared language of drawing, photography, and film. The focused exhibition will include informal preparatory sketches for paintings as well as beautifully finished drawings alongside photographs that highlight the rich variety of subject matter and styles—including views of architecture, cities, landscapes, and people—that came about in the contexts of royal patronage and ceremony. Among the works displayed will be pieces from Ivory’s recent gift to The Met of 19th-century photograph albums, reflecting a longstanding relationship that will be celebrated in an accompanying short film directed by award-winning film director Dev Benegal.
The exhibition is made possible by The Hagop Kevorkian Fund.
Additional support is provided by the Lavori Sterling Foundation Endowment Fund.
“Featuring an exquisite selection of drawings and photographs, Ink and Ivory offers a glimpse into the ornamental and cinematic qualities of a vibrant visual culture,” said Max Hollein, The Met’s Marina Kellen French Director and Chief Executive Officer. “We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with James Ivory and for his recent donation of works to the Museum—several of which will be on view for the first time.”
“Beyond possessing extraordinary beauty, historic Indian drawings provide clues to the minds and talents of artists long gone but mostly nameless,” said James Ivory. “With this exhibition, we seek to illuminate the vision and imagination of these creators, and to celebrate the resonance of their work.”
“This intimate exhibition foregrounds a dynamic exchange between different types of visual media,” said Navina Najat Haidar, Nasser Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah Curator in Charge of Islamic Art. “It invites visitors to discern the impact of drawings and photography on a filmmaker who has been a bridge between cultures.”
Visitors will be awakened to powerful expressions of line, tone, stippling, shading, and definition that emerge within the subtle palette of Indian drawings and washed sketches. Preparatory drawings from the Mughal and Rajput courts will present insights into the making of fully colored paintings. The impact of photography on the art of drawing was particularly significant, translating across media within a shared visual scale and limited tonality of expression. The photographic component of the show will reveal the ways in which the worlds and visual cultures of Indian, Afghan, Burmese, and British patrons and photographers intersected.
Accompanying the exhibition, the short film An Arrested Moment will present a conversation with James Ivory exploring his ways of seeing art, the world, and ultimately life itself. Directed by Dev Benegal and produced by Maya S. Patel and Neeraj Jain of min(d) studio New York, the piece will transport viewers into images of Indian painting, drawing and photography that have informed Ivory’s work.
Credits and Related Content
This exhibition is curated by Navina Najat Haidar, Nasser Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah Curator in Charge of Islamic Art, in partnership with Filmmaker James Ivory.
The short film, An Arrested Moment is directed by Dev Benegal.
The exhibition is featured on The Met website.
###
July 26, 2024
Contact: Margaret-Anne Logan
Communications@metmuseum.org
Image: Buffaloes in Combat (detail), Attributed to Miskin, India, Mughal, late sixteenth century, Ink, watercolor, and gold on paper, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1983 (1983.258)
Press resources