Art in science furnishes a glimpse into the past; it\’s a wrap for the Arc de Triomphe

A SUMMARY OF THE MOST EXCITING ART NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

While we focus on Indian art, we can’t obviously function in a vacuum. It’s a small world and everything is connected, especially on the web. So, let’s train our spotlight across the world map to see what’s going on — from art trends to socio-political issues to everything that affects the great aesthetic global consciousness. Or, let’s just travel the world and have some fun!

East India Company bird paintings from 18^th century India on display

As the European influx into India rose in the 18^th century, several of these persons were tasked artists to paint the land and its people. Their interests were varied and included among others its birds, as is evident from an exhibition in Delhi that brings together 125 paintings of birds from the various Company-commissioned albums. Titled ‘Birds of India, Company Paintings c. 1800 to 1835’, the display at DAG, The Claridges Hotel, is curated from the gallery collection and comprises a variety of birds, including game birds, coastal waders, woodland, and forest birds. The exhibition is on till October 6. The Indian Express reports.

On view: Botanical Survey of India’s rare painting collection

Botanical painting has been crucial to discovery of numerous plants — and thousands of such botanical paintings, unique and almost two centuries old, are rare and valuable not only because of the artistic talent of their Indian painters, but also because they highlight the country’s plant diversity. The Central National Herbarium of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI) has the biggest ever collection of 3,280 large botanical paintings by about 20 painters. Earlier this month, BSI digitised the entire rare collection of its Roxburgh drawings. The Hindu tells you more.

Wrapping up the Arc de Triomphe

The monumental feat of wrapping the Arc de Triomphe in 25,000 sq metres of material and posthumously fulfilling a 60-year dream for the artist Christo and his French wife, Jeanne-Claude, is well underway. The artist, who had wrapped the Reichstag in Berlin, left minutely detailed drawings and instructions covering every visual and artistic aspect of how he wanted the wrapped arch to look. Engineers and construction teams have been working round the clock since July to prepare the Arc de Triomphe, erecting scaffolding to hold the fabric away from the monument stone. The Guardian has all the details.