Explore the remarkable collection of Indian paintings and drawings of the artist Howard Hodgkin.
In this imposing portrait of Ganesh Gaj, the painter exaggerates his size to emphasise his grandeur. The rider is a prince in a floral robe, possibly a son of the emperor Aurangzeb. With its distant hilly landscape and a passing camel train, this picture may have been painted in one of the Mughal military camps in the Deccan.
Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2nd February-22nd April 2012, Visions of Mughal India: The Collection of Howard Hodgkin, Andrew Topsfield, ed. (Oxford: Ashmolean Museum, 2012), no. 25 on p. 72, pp. 18 & 188, illus. pp. 73 & 287
Ganesh
Chubby elephant-headed Hindu deity and son of Shiva and Parvati. He is the god of wisdom, bestower of wealth, and remover of obstacles who is invoked at the beginning of any enterprise.
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