Paradise on Earth: Florals in Indian Textiles invites visitors into a world where art, nature, and craftsmanship intertwine. For thousands of years, plants and flowers have inspired Indian textile and garment designs. This exhibition explores the enduring presence of floral and plant motifs in Indian textiles, showcasing a range of different textile materials, decorative techniques, and artistic influences across time and across the subcontinent through 13 works of art from the Mughal empire (1526–1827) to today. Paradise on Earth showcases densely embroidered coats and shawls, Mughal period carpets and paintings, and high-fashion garments by Oscar de la Renta and Alice + Olivia. Together, these works demonstrate how India’s 6,000-year textile tradition continues to inspire across time and cultures.
Paradise on Earth: Florals in Indian Textiles is organized by the Dallas Museum of Art. The Dallas Museum of Art is supported, in part, by generous DMA Members and donors, the Texas Commission on the Arts, and the citizens of Dallas through the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture.
Evening dressing gown, early 21st century. Oscar De La Renta. Silk taffeta with embroidery. Texas Fashion Collection, University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design; Ceremonial shawl, about 1908. Punjab, India. Cotton and silk. Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Alta Brenner in memory of her daughter Andrea Bernice Brenner-McMullen, 1996.176; Coat for a nobleman, late 19th century. Banaras (Varanasi), Uttar Pradesh, India. Silk with gold-wrapped silk yarn. Dallas Museum of Art, gift of Alta Brenner in memory of her daughter Andrea Bernice Brenner-McMullen, 2007.14.