NATIONAL GALLERY OF

MODERN ART
JAIPUR HOUSE, DELHI

AKSHAY G
1PC19AT005
INTRODUCTION
Jaipur House near India Gate in New
Delhi has been renovated and the art
works preserved in it digitalised. Now
more and more people will be drawn to
the early 20th century mansion, which
houses the National Gallery of Modern
Art, with memories of Amrita Sher-Gil
and M F Husain.As such it’s worth
repeating the history of this imposing
monument.
It was designed by Arthur Blomfield,
after construction of Lutyens' Delhi, in
1936.

Today it houses the

National Gallery of Modern Art
(NGMA), India's premier art gallery
which was established here by Ministry
of Culture in 1954

HISTORY
The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) is the premier art
gallery under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The main
museum at Jaipur House in New Delhi was established on 29 March
1954 by the Government of India, with subsequent branches at Mumbai
and Bangalore. Its collection of more than 1700 works by 2000 plus
artists includes artists such as Thomas Daniell, Raja Ravi Verma,
Abanindranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore,
Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher-Gil as well as foreign artists.
Some of the oldest works preserved here date back to 1857. With
12,000 square meters of exhibition space] the Delhi branch is one of the
world's largest modern art museums.
The Jaipur House building, incidentally begun in the time of Madho
Singh II, was completed in the time of his successor Man Singh II. Many
grand functions were held at Jaipur House like the wedding of Major
Thakur Govind Singh Khatipura of the President’s Bodyguard with
Rajkumari Sneh Kumari of Garrauli State of Bundelkhand in February
1951. Among those prominent at the reception were the Maharaja of
Cooch Behar, Maharaja Man Singh II and his consort Maharani Gayatri
Devi, Kameshwar Singh of Darbhanga and Gen Cariappa. On March 29,
1954, the National Gallery of Modern Art was inaugurated at Jaipur
House by Vice President Radhakrishnan in the presence of Jawaharlal
Nehru, Prof Hanuman-Kabir and other dignitaries.
Jaipur House (built in red and buff sandstone) has now become
synonymous with Indian Modern Art. Old-timers still talk of the elegant
grace provided by the Jaipur royal couple of Man Singh II and Gayatri
Devi (one in his fancy Rajasthani turban and the other in a beautiful
white sari) to the building at many Indian government and State
functions before and after Independence. It surely links the Mughal era
with modern times.
Jaipur House, besides being the last bastion of the Jaipur royal family in
Delhi, also has an intriguing albeit interesting history that probably no
other princely house in the Capital has.
The close connection of the Jaipur royal family with the Mughals
resulted in the grant of extensive lands. The grants included
Jaisinghpura, Malcha, Madhoganj, Bas Hanuman and the Kushak
lands, observes Sumanta K. Bhowmick in his extremely well-researched
work,
“Princely Palaces in Delhi”, published by Niyogi Books from which
extracts have been taken for this article. The lands were gifted by the
Mughals as muafi(Shahi grants). These included “a pucca house known
as Kutchery Raj, observatory (Jantar Mantar) buildings and a temple for
Shivji in Nirhoula village.
SITE CONTEXT: Situated at the end of Rajpath, in the Central Hexagon around the
India Gate, the building was a former residential palace of the
Maharaja of Jaipur, hence known as Jaipur House. The butterfly-
shaped building with a central dome and built in 1936, and
designed by Sir Arthur Blomfield, after the construction
of Lutyens' Delhi. The Central Hexagon around the India Gate,
where the buildings of leading princely states were situated,
was itself designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.

The gallery at Jaipur house opened with an exhibition of Indian

sculptures, showcasing myriad of 65 Indian sculptures, displayed in
five rooms of the Jaipur house, by 31 artists like Debi Prasad Roy
Chowdhury, Ram Kinkar Baij, Sankho Chaudhuri, Dhanraj Bhagat
and Sarbari Roy Chowdhury. This event was even curated by
Hermann Goetz. The startup aim of the museum was the acquisition
and preservation of art works from 1850 to till date, mainly
paintings, sculptures and graphics and later also photographs.
Then in 2009, a new wing of the National Gallery of Modern Art
was inaugurated adding almost six times the space to the existing
gallery, plus it has a new auditorium, a preview theatre,
conservation laboratory, library and academic section as well as a
cafeteria and museum shop.

• 104 or so large trees and planting new ones .Large unhindered

green spaces .
• Lines defining the hard (paved)area from the green provide an
unorbtrusive background for any kind of museum.
 • First floor of block 1 houses paintings of Jamini Roy and S
H Raza.
• Block 2 contains the modern art sculptures and paintings of
• The ground floor plan houses exhibits of Bhupen khakkar artists of PROGRESSIVE ARTISTS GROUP like
mainly in block 3 Nanadlal Bose and Chittendra Nath Majumdar.
• The access to block 3 is from mezzanine entrance area. • The corner ramps help to give overview of each of the
• Block 2 is not built on ground floor. floor and act as buffer space between external screen walls
and the gallery floors.
 Circulation space of second floor plan Conceptual view of NGMA Plans

• Second floor of block 1houses a library for students.

• It has a capacity of almost 50-60people at a time .
• Roof of library is designed in such a a manner that only diffused
light enters .
• Block 2 and block 3 have sculptures and paintings of modern
art .
• The display floors allow flexible display of artwork and can be
manipulated to obtain required special effects .
2 Elevations of NGMA
• The structure has a butterfly layout and a central
dome.
• The structure is clad in red and yellow sandstone.
• To the back of the palace is a large garden,
which can be entered through the main ballroom
on the ground floor.
• The ballroom is paneled in dark wood.
• Inside is the main hall underneath the central
dome, with a large spiral staircase leading to the
upper floor.
Energy saving HVAC system and HVAC
units ,
understanding of important factors tht contribute to a quality HVAC unit:
• The system or unit must be properly sized and designed to
accommodate the specific building .
• Must have sealed supply ductwork for efficient and proper
energy flow
• Must have balanced air flow between supply and return
system .
• Must be filled with proper refrigerator ,plus efficiently working burner
operation and draft.