Ashwinder Khehra (Ash)
Art Researcher
About the Researcher
Independent researcher specializing in South Asian cultural history, material culture, and cultural landscapes. My work explores how objects, visual traditions, and historical landscapes reflect broader questions of identity, memory, and social change across time. Grounded in an interdisciplinary approach that combines archival and textual research with close visual and cultural analysis, my research examines the material and vernacular expressions through which communities preserve, reinterpret, and transmit cultural memory.
20th Century • India
Paper Boats
Research based on 6 sources
19th Century • India
From now on, these sandals are our king
Research based on 7 sources
19th Century • India
Mirza Salim attended by Turbiyat Khan
Research based on 2 sources
18th Century • India
Asian Openbill Stork (Anastomus oscitans)
Research based on 7 sources
18th Century • India
A lady approached by a black buck
Research based on 3 sources
18th Century • India
A Palace Complex with Harem Gardens
Research based on 6 sources
18th Century • India
Baz Bahadur and Rupmati falconry
Research based on 6 sources
18th Century • India
Discussion with an ascetic
Research based on 4 sources
17th Century • India
The Approach of Krishna
Research based on 6 sources
17th Century • India
The Departure of Prince Shah-Shuja for Kabul (16 March 1638)
Research based on 5 sources
17th Century • India
Mughal emperors Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan with their ministers
Research based on 5 sources
17th Century • India
The Arrival of the Turkey from Goa
Research based on 5 sources
16th Century • India
Rustam Lassos his steed Rakhsh
Research based on 5 sources
16th Century • India
Akbar tiger-hunting near Narwar (left half)
Research based on 4 sources
16th Century • India
Akbar\'s entry into the fort of Ranthambhor
Research based on 6 sources
16th Century • India
Bairam Khan\'s widow and child are escorted to Ahmedabad
Research based on 6 sources
16th Century • India
Akbar and a Dervish
Research based on 8 sources
16th Century • India
Tamrūsīya is thrown into the sea
Research based on 7 sources
16th Century • India
Saint Jerome
Research based on 5 sources
Figure Study
This artwork shows a thin arm raising a small reddish lamp above a huge, dark, hooded figure, and I read it as a picture of quiet endurance. The lamp's fragile light held by someone who is mostly in shadow. The dense, driving lines suggest weight…
Lovers and beloveds
I love how this painting tells so many love stories at once. It gathers lovers from various tales into one busy scene and express emotions in different forms; some happy, some sad, some waiting, some crying. The painting says something simple: love takes many forms,…
Gustavus Hamilton (1710–1746), Second Viscount Boyne, in Masquerade Costume
This painting feels mysterious and elegant. The mask hides his face but his calm eyes and bright blue coat still pull me in. It feels like a quiet moment at a party that never ended. He looks important yet still like a stranger.
Hatsuhana by Utagawa Kuniyoshi
When I first looked at this print, what caught me was how peaceful her face is. The water is crashing down all around her, but she just kneels there with her hands together like she's somewhere else entirely. I find that really moving. At the…
Holy Family with Saint John the Baptist
What strikes me first is the stillness. Mary's lowered eyes and soft half-smile feel private, as if she's caught in a moment of quiet attention before the world intrudes. Then I notice the Child, who looks straight out at me with a slightly puzzled, very…
St Sigismund and Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta
I think this painting is a ruler trying to look holy. Sigismondo is kneeling before a saint, but he is not really being humble. He is showing off. He wants people to think God is on his side. The dogs look calm and loyal. I…
Administering Justice in Kievan Rus
The artwork represents justice as a public and highly visible exercise of authority in medieval Rus. The gathering of figures, the central judicial action, and the ruler’s prominent position emphasize hierarchy and communal order. I also see the work as a later reconstruction of the…
The Last Supper
To me this fresco feels less like a dramatic narrative and more like a quiet suspended moment where the artist uses the architecture of the arches to frame the scene perfectly and create a sense of order and calm. Judas is visually isolated on the…
Kamala
This painting beautifully depcis Kamala, which is considered another form of the goddess Lakshmi. She has a glowing halo with big earrings, and many necklaces. Her eyes look down gracefully, while having a gentle smile on her lips. Her hands are raised in a calm,…
Kalketu, the Hunter
The artwork shows the hunter from traditional Bengali folklore crouching with his bow and arrows. Painted in dark colors against a pale background, Tagore uses simple lines and a limited color palette to create a quiet, moody atmosphere. It captures the tense moment right before…
Stigmatization of St Francis
I think this painting shows Saint Francis having a vision where he receives the stigmata, the wounds of Christ. The rays going from Christ to Francis portrays a direct connection between heaven and mortal world. Francis is kneeling with his hands raised, which shows his…
Dhobis in a River Near Bombay
This painting shows a normal day. It does not try to be fancy. It just shows people working. The dhobis are standing in the water, bending down, washing clothes. Some wet clothes are lying on the rocks. It looks calm and real. I like how…
Washer Women
This painting shows women doing laundry in a hot, steamy room. One woman sits in front, head in her hand, completely worn out. Others keep working behind her in the mist. You can almost feel how tired they are. It's a hard, honest look at…
The Iraqi Steed Jugaldan
What strikes me first is how this horse is treated like royalty. Bhavani Das doesn't just paint an animal; he paints a portrait. The stallion stands in profile against a bare background, no landscape, no distractions. That emptiness is deliberate. It forces you to look…
Mandarin ducks and cotton rose hibiscus
This painting is a wedding wish. The two mandarin ducks stand for a happy marriage, because in Chinese tradition these birds stay with one partner. The flowers around them add to the message. The Chinese word for hibiscus sounds like part of a phrase meaning…
Feridun Shah, the king of Greece, converts to islam and marries his daughter to Hamza
This painting shows a wedding celebration rather than a battle. As per the MAK's record on Google Arts & Culture, the tales of the Hamzanama are about the struggles of Muslims against their opponents and the attempt to convert them, and this folio shows the…
Girl Knitting in Savognin
At first glance, this painting radiates a peaceful, serene vibe of countryside life and the simplicity the girl is living in. She is completely absorbed in her knitting, looking carefully into every knot she's making, her head bent low in total concentration on something so…
Shah Jahan Riding with One of His Sons
What I like most about this painting is how naturally it shows who's important, just through composition. The white horse moves really gracefully, and everyone else, like the attendant, the man with the bow, and the two figures on the right, is placed around the…
The Betrayal of Christ
This artwork makes me feel a bit uneasy with so much going on. People with swords, torches, and shouting into the scene. But then I notice Jesus in the middle who looks completely calm while it's all happening around him, and that really hits me.…
A Grey Racehorse and Groom
The elegant artwork shows the British colonial era in India. The groom's composed, quiet posture gives a good impression of what the times were like for someone in his position; reserved and dignified, but with a subtle sense of distance or dejected in his expression.
The Bolshevik
Honestly, what gets me most is how calm his face is. No triumph, no anger, nothing dramatic — just this quiet certainty, like he already knows how it's all going to end. And nobody below him even bothers looking up, like his size stopped being…
Timur’s army pursues Toqtamish Khan in 1391
The artwork captures a violent chase where a fallen horse anchors the chaos. The painting serves as a royal propaganda to glorify Timur to legitimize his descendant Akbar. I find this visually amazing, but uneasy art that quietly celebrates conquest.
Great Hornbill
This painting represents a moment of genuine human curiosity about the natural world, given lasting, dignified form. The hornbill isn't decoration or symbol; it's treated like a portrait subject, with real attention to its posture, its coloring, the grip of its feet on the rock.…
A Buffalo Fighting a Lioness
What caught my attention first was the violent fight between the buffalo and the lioness. There is a lot of movement in the scene, especially with the rider sitting on the buffalo and trying to take part in the encounter. I am particularly impressed by…
Akbar with falcon receiving Itimam Khan, while below a poor petitioner (self-portrait of the artist Keshavdas as an old man) is driven away by a royal guard
When I look at this painting, what hits me first is just how physically vulnerable Keshavdas made himself look. He didn’t paint himself as a dignified, proud artist, he shows himself bare-chested, frail, skinny, and stooped over with age, looking desperate just to be heard.…
The morning
I loved how the countryside is painted beautifully, and the colors depict the time of day, as if it's before sunset. The girl in the painting is enjoying her time in nature, as if she is one with it, in her own world, totally disconnected…
The Garden Parasol
The first thing that captured my eyes is the bright, sunny, summery day with the huge Japanese-style umbrella in the garden. It just gives that rich feeling of an English background. And then the main lady enjoying her lunch tea while reading, that's just like…
Goddess Saraswati
Honestly the first thing that got me was the peacock next to Devi Saraswati. Soon as I saw it I thought of Radha Krishna and Braj. Then the river next to them, that made me think of Yamuna, which is such a big thing in…
Diving Dipper and Other Birds
The first thing that pulled me into this painting was the floral background with its deep green colour, it immediately speaks of the era this painting was made in. There's no mistaking the Mughal touch here. The gold used throughout the painting feels almost extravagant,…
Music
The first thing that caught my eye wasn't the woman in yellow, it was the man with the instrument. Something about him, the way he's holding it, his hair, how little he's wearing on top, reminded me straight away of Narada, the sage from Hindu…