Stefan Norblin – Decorator of Indian Palaces | Article

Stefan Norblin – Decorator of Indian Palaces

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A painter who ended up in India fleeing World War II. This unplanned episode led to the creation of unusual decorations: the conjoining of European art nouveau with Indian traditions in the palaces of the local maharajas.

Early days

Stefan Norblin is fated to become a genius expat artist. He is born in Warsaw as the great-grandson of Jean Pierre Norblin, a French painter who came to Poland for 30 years thanks to the Czartoryski noble family. Stefan is a son of factory owners, but he decides to continue the artistic tradition. He débuts in 1913 with an exhibition in Amsterdam. When Poland regains independence, his career speeds up.

He is very successful as a graphic artist, designing posters, book covers, costumes and theatre sets. One of his major inter-war works is a series of posters promoting Polish cities, commissioned by the Ministry of Communication. However, soon they would stop bringing joy to both the tourist and the designer.

On the move

At the beginning of the 1930s, when the NSDAP gains power in the Weimar Republic, Norblin marries Lena Żelichowska, an actress who would soon become one of the brightest stars of inter-war cinema.

Their careers progress and the couple start building a villa. They leave it right after the outbreak of World War II. They arrive in Iraq after travelling through Romania and Turkey. At that time, a stream of Polish refugees head to India through Iraq and the countries of eastern Europe in order to get on a ship towards their final destination: the United States or South America.

Norblin and his wife stay in Baghdad for a while, socialising in circles of the most important officials. Norblin is painting portraits of the Iraqi royal family. Eventually, Norblin and Żelichowska end up in Mumbai in unknown circumstances. They plan to cross the Atlantic. Contrary to their goal, however, they stay in India.

Consequently, Norblin lands in a cultural melting pot, a point where Indian culture, bombastic colonial neogothic trends, art nouveau architecture, and early modernism all meet.

Indian promise

Under the commission of Maharaja Lukhdhirji Waghji, Norblin decorates the palace in Morvi, which defines itself with a geometrical style similar to Scottish art nouveau. The ruler is delighted with art deco, but he also wants to keep traditional elements. Norblin bonds both worlds, painting frescos and plafonds.

He draws on motifs from Hindu religion, but gives them contemporary forms. The dynamic aesthetic diverges from the customary representations of Shiva and Krishna, yet the rich colours and an accumulation of decorative details are in accord with the tradition. The two worlds meet in surprising agreement.

In 1943 Norblin moves to the palace in Patna. Apart from the decorations in the dining room, the swimming pool and the ballroom, he also paints realistic portraits of the royal family. They are presented in a traditional style, drawing from the baroque: clad in refined clothing against draped curtains and holding the attributes of power.

It is in the manor of Maharaja Umaid Singh in Jodhpur that Norblin shows his full potential. On the exterior, the newly built palace remains quite conservative. Inside, however, art nouveau reigns thanks to Norblin. It was not planned to give the Polish artist such a free hand. However, when the ship importing the furniture Umaid Singh ordered from Italy sinks, the maharaja decides to go for a contingency plan. As a result, Norblin designs not only the paintings but the entire interior, furniture, as well as lighting. Norblin spends three years in the palace.

Norblin and Żelichowska’s son, Andrew, is born in 1944. He would later become a musician. In the same year, Norblin has an individual exhibition in India’s most prestigious gallery: the National Gallery of Modern Art in Mumbai. When Norblin’s son contracts malaria, he is saved by a maharaja. The ruler sends his private plane so that medication can be imported.

Final years

In 1946, Norblin and his family embark on their journey to the US. The ship is meant to reach New York, but due to difficult conditions stops in San Francisco instead. Once again, Norblin arrives at a new place by accident, but he likes it so much he decides to stay in San Francisco. However, America does not requite his feelings. After his triumphs in inter-war Poland, Iraq and India, he does not get many commissions. His health declines. Żelichowska, a former film star, now works in a beauty salon.

After six triumphant years come six years of oblivion and proceeding glaucoma. Norblin commits suicide in 1952. He leaves behind an incredibly rich legacy in the Indian palaces, where traditional Indian culture and European art nouveau meet.

Translated by Natalia Sajewicz

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