Power Working on Gaze: The Legacy of Orientalism in Modern Indian Painting and the Transformation of 'Indianness' from the 1850s to the 1930s

The study is interested in examining how the discourse of British Orientalist paintings has transcended unilateral dynamics within British art and has been inherited by modern Indian paintings. During the colonial era, active cultural exchange brought a hybrid cultural space where British and Indian cultures met and intertwined. In this context, British Orientalist paintings flowed into Indian society, and Western hegemonic norms altered Indian traditional tastes, values, and aesthetics. The analysis sheds light on the constant interplay between British and Indian cultures, considering how the stereotypical images of the self, filtered through the Orientalist gaze, were received and affected India’s self-perception and modes of self-expression. By doing so, this study aims to reframe Orientalist influence as an active and dynamic force―received, inherited, or disavowed within Indian paintings―rather than a static imposition from the top down. 　　　Furthermore, the analysis moves toward examining the self-perpetuating influence of the legacy of Orientalism within modern Indian paintings. By focusing on the influence of Orientalism from Indian perspectives, this study reveals the cross-cultural and multi-layered practice of Orientalist discourse, reproduced between Indian elites and non-elites, as well as men and women, beyond the dichotomy between the British colonizer and the colonized India. In the end, the study examines how it is possible to negotiate with the hegemonic Orientalist discourse, thereby refocusing on the art of marginalized subalterns that has been overlooked thus far. The contribution of this study is to reconfigure the West-centric language and frameworks of art history and to explore the postcolonial possibilities within the creativity of art, aiming to reflect diverse voices and expressions from below.