The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C., has opened "Of the Hills: Pahari Paintings from India’s Himalayan Kingdoms," an exhibition featuring 48 paintings and colored drawings that trace the evolution of Pahari painting across three key periods between 1620 and 1830. The show highlights the genre’s ties to the region’s landscapes, courtly life, and devotional practices, with works created using opaque watercolors, beetle wings, and gold, many of which have not been publicly displayed before. The exhibition runs until July 26.
This exhibition matters because it reconsiders conventional art history by emphasizing artistic collaboration and workshop practices that shaped Pahari painting traditions, which curator Debra Diamond notes are among the most beloved yet least understood Indian paintings. It also coincides with parallel shows at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cincinnati Art Museum, signaling a growing scholarly and public focus on this Himalayan art form in the United States, while introducing recently acquired works from the Ralph Benkaim and Catherine Glynn Benkaim collection.