Who knew that simply looking at a portrait could take you back centuries? ‘Portraits in Time: Power, Presence, and Identity Across Centuries’, curated by Sonali Batra and presented by Great Banyan Art, brings together around 50 works spanning the 18th to the 21st century.
On view from April 8 to 15 at Delhi’s Bikaner House, the exhibition captures and creates what Batra calls a “cross-continental, cross-century conversation on identity and representation.” It explores how the human face has been used to assert authority, address cultural transitions, and express inner worlds. “Portraiture is not a fixed genre,” Batra tells TMS. “It evolves every century.
Power and transition
The show is divided into four sections, each marking a distinct shift in the function and meaning of portraiture. It begins with early European traditions of the 18th and 19th centuries, where portraits were largely instruments of power. Commissioned by royalty and aristocracy, these works emphasised lineage and authority, often through highly controlled realism and composed postures. “These were what we call power portraits,” Batra says. The exhibition features works from Indian, Dutch, French, and other European schools, alongside pieces by noted artists such as Ernst Libermann, Oscar Schütte, and Hugues Merle. Most of the portraits are characterised by meticulous detailing, balanced compositions, and a romanticised approach to identity.
The second section focuses on colonial India, highlighting the emergence of European academic realism through institutions established under the Raj. Artists such as Raja Ravi Varma and those associated with his circle adapted Western techniques to Indian subjects, producing portraits that merged imported styles with local sensibilities. The result, as seen in depictions of regional nobility, is a visual hybridity—European realism overlapped with intricate textiles, jewellery, and distinctly Indian markers of identity.
One of the works by an unknown Sekhara warrior associated with the Travancore court, is particularly intriguing. It appears to be a regal double portrait of a south Indian couple. It shows a man seated in an ornate, high-backed wooden chair, dressed in a shimmering gold brocade tunic and a white gold turban. Beside him, the lady is seated, draped in a luxurious lilac-grey silk saree adorned with silver embroidery and a rich gold border. She wears traditional temple jewellery. The handling of light and texture in the painting is outstanding, mainly in the depiction of the metallic sheen on the fabrics.
Identity and expressions
In the third section, modernist artists including F. N. Souza, Krishen Khanna, and Anjolie Ela Menon move away from the precise picture, towards emotional and psychological exploration. Idealisation is replaced by distortion, and the emotions are expressed through strokes of colours and lines.
This is where portraiture “shifts from the outward to the inward”, Batra explains. “Post-Partition upheaval meant that artists were no longer interested in painting a perfect image. It becomes about expression, about emotional vulnerability, about what is happening inside.” Paintings of distorted figures, by HA Gade, Marie Shayans, Ibrahim Shahda, Souza, and others, are clear examples of this vision.
In the final segment of the show, the viewer is transported to the present, where portraiture is even more dynamic. The human face is viewed by modern artists like Shobha Broota and Tom Vattakuzhy — their paintings are influenced by themes of memory, migration, and relationships.
“In today’s world, identity is not rooted in one place,” Batra remarked. “It becomes a site for negotiating memory—there’s diaspora, transformation. Even though the face remains central, it appears fluid, shifting with cultural context.”
Authorship and value
Among the works that especially stand out for the curator is a 1911 painting by Rose Bonnor, ‘A Young Woman on a Sofa with a Fan in Her Hand’. Beyond its elegant and delicate representation, the piece is especially significant since it is one of the few instances of a female artist making a name for herself in a tradition that has historically been dominated by men. “Professional opportunities for women artists were quite limited at that time. So it’s inspiring to see her carve a space for herself,” Batra notes.
Authorship issues are also brought to light by the show. While European artists increasingly gained recognition and prestige, many portraitists in Indian court traditions remained unknown, their identities secondary to the clients they served, while European artists earned a name and respect. This discrepancy reveals the historical entanglement of portraiture with power institutions, both in terms of who is remembered and who is portrayed.
In an age dominated by photography and digital self-representation, ‘Portraits in Time’ also raises questions on the changing value of the portrait itself. “We’re in the age of selfies and AI,” Batra observes. “But there was a time when having a portrait made was rare, expensive, and reserved for a few. It makes you appreciate where this tradition comes from.”