In the year 1939, as German tanks and soldiers invaded Poland, a famous Polish artist and his film-star wife pawned off their jewellery and fled the country.
Stefan Norblin and Lena left behind their dream home, which they were in the process of building, and their entire artistic legacy in exchange for safety.
The couple aimed to seek refuge in America and travelled across Romania, Turkey and Iraq, finally arriving in colonial India, where they spent six years.
Their lengthy stopover resulted in the unlikely collaboration between the artist and Indian maharajas (rulers), and gave India some of its finest artworks that blend Western aesthetics with Indian iconography.
Between 1941 and 1946, several Indian kings commissioned Norblin to decorate their palaces with paintings, and even design their interiors in the art deco style – a modernist style that celebrates innovation and technology.
Norblin rose to the occasion by painting beautiful murals of Hindu gods, entire scenes from Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana and even the country’s famed tigers, leopards and elephants in his characteristic blended style.
His paintings can be found in the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Rajasthan state – the home of the ruler of the erstwhile princely state of Jodhpur, which has now been converted into a luxury hotel – as well as the palace of the rulers of Morbi in Gujarat state.
He also painted portraits for the Maharaja of Ramgarh in Bihar state, but these artworks have been lost to time, says Claus-Ullrich Simon, an expert on Norblin, in Chitraanjali – a documentary which chronicles the artist’s works in India.
His murals are grand and vibrant, infused with a sense of movement and emotion. They depict recognisable characteristics of the art deco style, like minimalist, elongated human figures, geometric shapes and bold colours; but they are fused with innovative interpretations of traditional Indian imagery, including the features and postures of Hindu gods.
