January 2008
Issue 01-08

The Museums and Galleries of Mumbai, India

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The Museums and Galleries of Mumbai, India

The City of Mumbai, on the central west coast of the country of India, is the cultural, financial and entertainment center of India. A combination of New York and Los Angeles in the second largest country in the world. Mumbai's contributions to the motiion picture industry is well known through the movies known everywhere as Bollywood, after Bombay the previous name of the city. Less well known is the vibriant art scene of musuems, galleries and art schools that populate the city.

Given the opportunity to visit India, a visit to some of these museums and galleries is a must for the art tourist, here are some recommendations:

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Museum - formerly Prince of Wales Museum

Built in 1906 for a visit from the Prince Edward, Prince of Wales, this museum combines Victorian design with Indian architecture on grounds that feature a sculpture garden and beautiful gardens of local flowers and trees.

Not least of interest are the beautiful saris worn everywhere in India.
The Museum has three floors, the first floor is dedicated to Indian sculpture of historical interest. Popular as a destination for school field trips, the first floor is often full of school children viewing sculptures of the gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon as well as historical figures of India's classical history. The first floor also features a small gift store for aficionados of museums stores containing art books and reproductions of historical artifacts. The Museum also provides self-tour audio devices that give details on many of the items on display, these are included in the price of admission which is only a few Rupees for Indians but the equilvalent of about US $ 3.50 for Americans and Europeans.

The second floor is the real treat, containing a permanent collection of art from Nepal and Tibet. The curating suffers a little from over crowding but the collection is the best I have seen anywhere. In addition to the small sutra books, written on wooden planks and held together by thread through holes in the center of the books, there are many Buddhist devotional statues, wall hangings and writings. This collection takes up several galleries and is worth several hours of dedicated viewing.

The third floor of the musuem is dedicated to European art, comprised mostly of two portrait galleries of oil paintings of English and Indian notables from the colonial period. The collection contains a few pieces from the European Renaissance including one identified as "From the Circle of Leonardo di Vinci" and a Madonna and Child. Initially I was shocked by the Madonna and Child as the genital area of the Christ Child had been scratched out, perhaps by an overzealous Victorian but impossible to know. In the west this would very likely be repaired. On reflection, it is not at all unusual in the west to view a scupture in a museum with damage or a Roman mosiac with portions missing. I now feel that the hanging of the damaged painting is no different in ths context - damaged, yes, but still worth seeing.

Next Page: Indian National Gallery of Modern Art

Next time: The Seattle Art Museum and the Seattle Asian Art Museum

Previous profiles:
British Museum, London
The Getty Center, Los Angeles
The Getty Villa, Malibu, California