Goddess, Lion, Peasant, Priest:

Modern and Contemporary Indian Art from the Collection of Shelley and Donald Rubin

March 15 – May 15, 2011

Oglethorpe University Museum of Art in Atlanta is pleased to announce a first-of-its-kind  exhibition—Goddess, Lion, Peasant, Priest: Modern and Contemporary Indian Art from the Collection of Shelley and Donald Rubin. This is the first public display of this collection of more than 50 works from 28 of India’s most famous artists, including Francis Newton Souza, Sakti Burman, and Seema Kohli.

Shelley and Donald Rubin, passionate collectors of Himalayan art for over 30 years, are the founders of the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. Mr. Rubin is a 1956 Oglethorpe alumnus.

With imagery from all walks of life, from the poorest citizens to dynamic deities, the works of Goddess, Lion, Peasant, Priest focus on India’s people: individual characters gazing back at us, men and women inhabiting spaces urban and rural, kneeling bodies meditating and praying. India’s modern and contemporary art affirms that the modern is global.

“These works celebrate everyday life in South Asia and its diasporas, from the most mundane moments to the most transcendent,” said curator Dr. Rebecca M. Brown, author of Art for a Modern India, 1947-1980 (Duke University Press, 2009) and visiting Associate Professor in the History of Art and Political Science at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. “This is an extraordinary opportunity for museum visitors to connect with the art of modern India.”