Dipo Paintings

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The scope of art in India encompasses

the vast subcontinents cultural

heritage, historical legacies, any

number of religions, and diverse

philosophies that amalgamate and give rise

to Indian art. Thus, this unique Indiannesspervasive in virtually all Indian art may be

best achieved through an understanding of

the philosophical thoughts, cultural

histories, and social, religious, and political

systems that have lent their own nuances and

metaphors, rich associations and varied

imaginations for the humanisation and

dehumanisation of gods and beings, and the

characterisations of purpose and ideals of

life that are represented in Indian art at all

levels and in all forms. Over the centuries,

apart from the forces of change within, Indianart has continually evolved through external

influences such as the periods of Islamic

ascendancy and colonialism, and all of have,

Indian Paintings

Avalokiteswarapart of the collection of the over 2000-year-old frescoes adorning the Ajanta Caves

Christ and his followers, Jamini

Roy, tempera on paper, 64 x 37 cm

Gopini, Jamini Roy,gouache on paper, 84 x 46 cm

By Sunil K Sukumaran

ART


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DIPLOMATIST 51

by and large, enriched the amalgamation that isIndian art.

History

Indian art can be said to have begun with the rockpaintings of prehistoric timessuch as thepetroglyphs discovered in places like Bhimbetkasome of them older than 5500 BCE. The ancientIndus Valley civilisations of Harappa andMohenjodaro indicate a highly developed cultureand understanding of space, which is clear from theirarchitecture. Various seals from Harappa and otherart objects, especially the dancing girl, fromMohenjodaro show a clear knowledge of theanatomy of the human figure, as well as a high degreeof awareness and perception of animal forms.However, though petroglyphs continued over thecenturies, it was only and after several millennia, inthe 7th Century BCE, that carved pillars of Ellora

present a fine example of Indian paintings, and thecolours used were mostly shades of red and orange,which were derived from minerals. Thereafter, thefrescoes of Ajanta and Ellora Caves appeared.Despite the Vedic times and the advent of Hinduism,the earliest Indian religion to inspire major artisticmonuments was BuddhismIndias Buddhistliterature is replete with examples of texts thatdescribe the palaces of kings and nobilityembellished with paintings; alas, they have largelynot survived, but it is believed that some form of artpainting was practiced during that period.

Origins of modern Indian painting

Western influences started to have an impact onIndian art during the colonial era. Old patronsbecame less wealthy or influential, and Western artbecame more ubiquitous, and in the nearly 150 yearsof British rule, Indian indigenous art registered quitea bit of retardation, as new art, naturally, cateredexclusively to British taste. Although most of theseworks were generally related to Indian exotic floraand fauna for natural history institutions of theBritish Empire, a distinctive genre of paintings

emerged in the early 19th Century portraying Indiantraditions and customs for Western eyes; Indianartists developed a style that used Western ideas ofcomposition, perspective, and realism to illustrateIndian themes. The regimes and influences of theBritish art school inspired one vibrant artist, RajaRavi Varma (1848 1906), whose career became amemorable success. He was the first Indian tomaster the technique of oil painting, learning hiscraft from a European visiting artist at the court ofthe Maharajah of Travancore. His dazzling worksdepicted scenes from Indian epics and otherliterature. Lack of cataloguing during the early

Indian modern art scene prevents us fromascertaining a precise transitionary phase of theevolution of the modern Indian painting. Duringthe late19th Century, the emerging educated Indian

Crucifixion, Souza, 1961, oil on canvas, 112 x 84 cm

Untitled, Souza, 1991, chemical alterations on paper, 30 x 24 cm


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middle class began to identify itselfas a national entity and embarked onrediscovering the forgotten culturalheritage. This Revivalists movementwas deeply influenced by Indiasglorious past and heritage, by the greatIndian epics and transcendental

philosophy, by the frescoes of Ajanta,and the Mughal and Rajput miniaturepaintings. As a result, at a time whenEuropean painters like Czanne,Renoir, and Van Gogh wereexperimenting with Impressionismand new artistic expressions, theRevivalistsincluding Raja Ravi

Verma whose subject matter mainlyderived from Indian mythologymaybe regarded by some as regressing intoIndias past by incorporating Hindu

and Buddhist themes into their work.The fountainhead of the revivalistcelebration was a single aristocraticfamily of Bengal, the Tagoreswhohave made important contributions tonot only painting, but also poetry,fiction, and playwriting, and evenacting, singing, and designingheaded by Rabinandranath Tagore(1861-1941), who became the first non-white and first Indian Nobel laureate.His nephews, Gaganendranath and

Abanindranath, earned the distinctionof being Indias first modern artistsalthough Rabindranath Tagore isoften referred to as the father ofmodern Indian art despite the fact thathe took up painting much later in lifewhen he was well into his

sixties. With the support of E.B.Havell, the British principal ofCalcutta School of Art; AnandaCoomarswamy, Indias great art criticwho championed the functionalintegrity of art with life; and NandalalBose, a gifted painter, it was

Abanindranath who breathed a new

life into Indian paintingthe Tagoresintroduced Asian styles and avant-garde Western styles into the Indianart scene. Incidentally, around thistime and unnoticed by great critics,such as E.B. Havell or AnandaCoomaraswamy, the art of Kalighat

paintings, simply called pats andpainted by anonymous patuas assouvenirs for pilgrims visiting thefamous Kali Temple flourished.

This authentic art form was eschewedby the bhadra lok (affluent class) ofthat time, possibly because of their

cheapness and easy availability. Theartists had perfected their technique,learnt from foreigners, using cheapwater colours to develop a unique andhighly distinctive style. Theremarkable aspect of the Kalighatpaintings was that while all previousmodern art experiments, which werecarried out by the elite class, stuck toglorifying Indian history andmythology, these were a creation ofhumble painters depicting mythology

that also made bold and witty socialstatements on everyday life. All butignored by the art circle of the time,the Kalighat paintings did, however,strongly influence and inspire famousIndian artists such as Jamini Roy andK.G. Subramanyam. Jamini Roy andmuch later S.H. Raza have consciouslydrawn inspiration from folk art andtraditions.

The next import ant movementoccurred at the nexus of Indian history

in the late 1940s when the country wasexperiencing tremendous nationalupheaval after gaining Independencein 1947 and the bloody Partition. F.N.Souza, a twenty three year old formerCommunist Party member of modestorigin, along with five other members

Calvaire Breton, Raza, 1956, oil on

canvas, 55 x 33 cm

Kundalini,Raza, 2001, acrylic on canvas, 122 x 122 cm Bindu BijaMantra, Raza, 2004, acrylic on canvas, 119 x 119 cm


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founded the Progressive ArtistsGroup (PAG). The five othermembers were M.F. Hussian, K.H.

Ara, H.A. Gade, S.K. Bakre, and S.H.Raza. Their manifestodrawn up bySouza, the most articulate andcontroversial of the groupdeclaredthat the word progressive meant togo forward and that was exactly what

they intended to do. They summarilydenounced the influences of allmodern Indian artists: Rabindranath

Tagore as too se lf -obsessed andintroverted, Amrita Sher-Gil as ahybrid, Jamini Roy as toounsophisticated and crude, and alleminent artists and influentialteachers as too sentimental and old-

fashioned. PAGs 20th Centurymodernism was unapologeticallylinked to European contemporaries;with an intentional, unabashedhomage to Europeancontemporaries, the artists createdpieces that drew parallels of the

tension between the local and theglobal by creating art within theframework of internationalmodernism. Their credo can best bedescribed by Souzas rallying cry,Today we paint with absolutefreedom for content and technique,almost anarchic However, thePAG artists were too free spirited andself-absorbed to reflect on the

Holi, M.F. Husain, 1960, oil on canvas, 149 x 149 cm

Safdar Hashmi, M.F. Husain, 1981, acrylic on canvas, 170 x 320 cm

Self Portait, M.F. Husain, c. 1970s,

oil on canvas, 56 x 62 cm


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tragedies of Partition, unlike the angst

and disillusionment often found inthe works of many European artistsof that time, resulting from the twohorrific world wars.

The PAG advocated new ways ofexpressing India in the post-colonialera, and their talent, professionalism,and unwavering dedication to theirart were first spotted by Mulk Raj

Anand, Indias foremost art critic andnovelist of international acclaim.PAG exhibited for the first time in

1948, and though the group waseventually dissolved in 1956, it wasprofoundly influential in changing theidiom of Indian art. Raza, Souza, andHusain emerged as distinguishedartists, each evolving his own style.Raza found fame in Parishe wasawarded the Prix de la Critique in1956, the first ever foreign artist to winthis prestigious awardwhile Souzashocked London with his compellingwork, continuing to defy, taunt andchallenge, to win praise and success.

The third success story was that ofthe elusive and enigmatic Husain,who stayed in touch with the soil ofIndia to intuitively and spontaneously

paint the essence of India, its

countryside, and its mythology, andcontinues to do so more than fivedecades later.

The PAG set the stage for tremendoustransformations in the art scene ofIndia. With a sense of newfoundartistic liberation, Indian artistsabandoning the archetypal themesfollowed by those who precededthembegan their quests for theirown uniquely individual styles, thusbringing forward new talent and new

ideas. Almost all Indias major artists

in the 1950s were associated with PAG

in someway or the othersome ofthose who are well known todayinclude Bal Chabda, V.S. Gaitonde,Satish Gujaral, Krishen Khanna, RamKumar, Tyeb Mehta, AkbarPadamsee, Laxman Pai, and JehangirSabavala. By this time, several schoolsof art in India provided access tomodern techniques and ideas from the

West, and galleries started gettingestablished to showcase and sell theworks of an increasing number oftalented contemporary artists. TheIndian Council for Cultural Relations

Untitled, Gaitonde, 1961, ink on paper, 76 x 55 cm Women in Grey, Sabavala, 2001, oil on canvas,

152 x 91 cm

Untitled, Broota, 2005, oil on canvas, 89 x 178 cm


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was established by the government ofIndia in the early 50s, and theNational Gallery of Modern Art wascreated in 1954 at the Maharajah of

Ja ipur s pa la ti al Lu ty en s- st yl emansion in central Delhi. That same

year , th e La li t Ka la Akademi(National Academy of Art) sprang up

in New Delhi, with a committee ofnine artists including Bose, Chaudhry,and N.S. Bendre, where exhibitions

were held regularly in its spaciousgalleries together with a prestigiousannual national exhibition and the

Delhi Triennale.

In a way, one might say that a quietrevolution had begun, and theatmosphere came alive with art events,

news and discussions, and exchangingof ideas, with more and more privateart galleries and museums opening up

everywhere. Visionary teachers likeSubramanyan and Chaudhry at theBaroda School contributed to a flowof fresh talent entering the scene, and

artists, like Vivan Sundaram, Ghulam

Muhammad Sheikh, Anjolie ElaMenon, Anupam Sud, etc., begantravelling abroad for further studies

Indian artists had also starteddisplaying their works in the Westsuccessfully.

Present day Indian Art is as varied ashas never been seen before. Manywell-known artists today were bornin the 1960s or after, and the Indian

art scene is constantly evolving andexperimenting despite the fact that a

lot of modern Indian art is stillinfluenced by Western styles and is

often inspired by Indian themes andimagery. Many Indian artists, new andold, have gained internationalrecognition, and the paintings of a

dozen or so of these acclaimed artistsroutinely sell well into the six figuresin dollar terms at local and

international auctions. Regardingoverseas buyers, though the interestin Indian artists may have initially

been generated primarily by thesuccessful, wealthy Indian diaspora,now one sees an increasing presenceof non-Indian audiences at auctionsand exhibitions. However, as modern

Indian art becomes hugely popularworldwide and prices shoot up to evermore dizzying heights, the questionremains whether this trend will

continue and whether expensiveIndian art is still a good investment:the consensus is that, indeed, Indian

art has awakened global interest andthe fever is infectious and the pricesmore than what they were yesterday,but this is only just the beginning

Kali, Tyeb Mehta, 1997, acrylic on canvas, 76 x 61 cm

Miniaturoscape 15, ZWB, 1996, primarily watercolour on paper, 11 x 25 cm

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Dipo Paintings