Wordless Wednesday: Great Indian Fruit Bat

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Today’s Wordless Wednesday is a creepy, yet adorable fruit bat created in the late 1700s in Calcutta, India. Take a look.

attributed to Bhawani Das, Indian, Great Indian Fruit Bat painting, ca. 1777–82 — attributed to Bhawani Das, Indian, Great Indian Fruit Bat, ca. 1777–82

I find this watercolor painting delightful and intriguing. I’m not exactly sure why. This was made as a part of an initiative by the chief justice of Bengal and his wife to document all of the flora and fauna from their estate. Although it was created for a more scientific purpose, I think this has both a good sense of expression and a very pleasing composition. The level of detail, the assymetricality, and the contrast make this one a really fun artwork to look at.

You can read a bit more about this artwork on the Met Museum website.

Lesson Ideas

How might you use this in an art lesson? I think it would be well-suited for elements of art and principles of design lessons and discussions, especially balance,texture, and contrast.

You could also discuss this in an aesthetics lesson (the philosophy of art). Is this art? Why or why not? Can it be art if it was created purely to document? What choices did the artist make to make this more than just a documentation?

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How can you commit to your own artmaking practice in 2023?

Lesson Ideas

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