Ito Jakuchu, Giant Daruma, late 18th century, hanging scroll; ink on paper, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Gitter-Yelen Collection, gift of Dr. Kurt Gitter and Alice Yelen Gitter.

None Whatsoever at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

This exhibition features masterworks of Zen Buddhist Japanese paintings from the renowned Gitter-Yelen Collection spanning more than four centuries. Many of the works from the Gitter-Yelen Collection were recently acquired by the MFAH.

“Maharana Ari Singh II enjoying Jagmandir” Attributed to Jiva and others, ca. 1767 Opaque watercolor and gold on paper Image, 58.3 × 114 cm The City Palace Museum, Udaipur, 2011.18.0037

A Splendid Land: Paintings from Royal Udaipur at The National Museum of Asian Art

Around 1700, artists in Udaipur (a court in northwest India) began creating immersive paintings that express the moods (bhava) of the city’s palaces, lakes, and mountains. These large works and their emphasis on lived experience constituted a new direction in Indian painting.

With dazzling paintings on paper and cloth—many on public view for the first time—the exhibition reveals the environmental, political, and emotional contexts in which the new genre emerged. A Splendid Land explores the unique visual strategies that artists developed to communicate emotions, depict places, and celebrate water resources.