N C Mehta Memorial Lecture

Bureaucrats as connoisseurs: the formation of collections of Pahari paintings in post-independence India

A talk by Vrinda Agrawal (PhD candidate in the History of Art at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)

About the Talk:

In the 1950s, a new generation of scholars emerged in India to shape collections and art historical discourse of Pahari paintings. As the newly independent nation contended with its cultural identity, collections and institutions underwent rapid transformations, marked by the transfer of power from British colonizers to Indian bureaucrats. This talk discusses some prominent art collectors from this period, with an emphasis on N. C. Mehta (1892-1958) and M. S. Randhawa (1909-1985) who were both officers of the Indian Civil Services. I examine how they strategically projected themselves as worthy cultural heirs to historical patrons and reinforced their positions in the evolving socio-political landscape of South Asia through scholarship and collection building.

Date: 27 November, 2025 (Thursday)

Time: 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM

For ages: 18 and above

Venue: Lecture Hall, L D Museum

*Tea will be served at 5:30 PM

For registration, please contact:

Call: +91-9408536883 | WhatsApp: +91-7863040584

About the Speaker:

Vrinda Agrawal is a PhD candidate in the History of Art at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her most recent publication, “From Private to Public”, published in Ars Orientalis (2024), traces the movement of paintings from private royal collections into public museums in post-independence India. Previously, she assisted eminent author and art historian B. N. Goswamy on the publication Oxford Readings in Indian Art (2018), supported by a fellowship from the Raza Foundation, New Delhi. She has also published in edited volumes and journals, including Artibus Asiae, as well as catalogues of museums and private galleries. Vrinda’s curatorial work and research have been supported by the Tagore National Scholarship for Cultural Research, the Freer Fellowship, among others. She holds a BFA from School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), and an MA from School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London.

Detail showing Krishna and Radha on a bed of leaves, Illustration from Gita Govinda, Guler Kalam, Pahari, c. 1765 – 1770 CE N C Mehta collection, at Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Museum

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