Art historian Charles Greig donates 50 works to Tate

UK art historian Charles Greig has donated 50 works to Tate in London. The collection brings together Indian and European artists who lived and worked in India during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Asked why Greig chose Tate, a spokesperson told The Art Newspaper that the institution already held key paintings related to Anglo-Indian history. These include Johan Zoffany’s Colonel Mordant’s Cock Match, dating from around 1784, and Indian landscapes by Thomas Daniell and William Hodges.

Indian and European artists in the gift

The donated works include Indian artists Sita Ram and Ghulam Ali Khan, European artists Johan Zoffany and Rudolf Swoboda, and British artists Thomas Daniell and William Daniell.

Three watercolours are by Sita Ram, an important figure in the creation of “Company paintings”—watercolours made in a European style for foreign patrons. His donated works include The Palace at Murshidabad from the River, dated around 1814–15.

Tate said the works illuminate a period of profound cultural, social and political change brought about by British colonialism in South Asia. Greig said most of the works were made before photography and provide a visual record of what he called “our rich shared history” from about 1770.

The donation is complete; the public display is a separate, planned step. A free display drawn from the Greig collection is due to open at Tate Britain in 2028.