Fancy Ball, Indore
1886
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
About the artist
Artist
Raja Deen Dayal
Raja Lala Deen Dayal, famously known as Raja Deen Dayal) was an Indian photographer.
See the richer artist page1886
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Fancy Ball, Indore is a 1886 by Raja Deen Dayal, a Impressionism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a photo of people in costumes at a party. The guests are dressed up as characters from different social classes. This photo is interesting because it shows how people in India's upper class liked to have fun and pretend to be someone else. You can learn more about this style of photography by looking up the technique of sfumato.
Entertainments at “fancy dress” or costume parties often included amateur theatricals or tableaux vivants —static scenes drawn from literature, history, or artworks. Here, Deen Dayal captured three moments distilled from a popular novel or play. The guests—all middle or upper class—perform as characters ranging from the working class to ladies and gentlemen. Because the photographic technology of the time required strong daylight, the photographs would have been made on a separate occasion, not at the party.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Raja Lala Deen Dayal, famously known as Raja Deen Dayal) was an Indian photographer.
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