Celebration 2008

Indian Painting: The Widening Circumference

As we look back to Indian pre-independence years prior to 1947, the horizon of art consisted of the generally myth or legend-laden compositions by artists. Well, here was an art for the traditional family. In these pictures, as in the many mythological films of the period, the racial memory was sought to be activated. It appears as if the creators of these works had precise blueprints of what they were about. Subjectwise there was plenty to choose, from the rich deposits of common lore. It appears as if several of the artists of those days lived in an ideal world quite removed from the social or physical area of their lives. This last found little echo in the then standard work. These paintings seem to have been "dressed up" for the occasion. Here there were no loose ends, the parting in the hair is correct, everything is just right. The conventions of grace informs the maidens, wisdom shines from the miens of the yogis, the gods and the goddesses play their parts as expected. In most of all this the artist (unlike the creator of the mock or bizarre religious art of today) subordinated himself to the tacit understandings of ethos. And even when the impoverished rural scene was drawn upon, it was observed with a brush that provided a fine gloss. Ramgopal Vijaivargiya was one of the best among these, as also Bireswar Sen. The later works of B. Prabha followed the same line, almost.

The process of change in tone was inadvertently set in motion (apart from purposeful efforts by the outstanding figures of the Bengal School) even much before 1947 as with Gopal Ghose. A new synthesis was in the making with, as yet, no final or definite outcome. The treatment of space was recognizably new, despite the surface thematic 'Indianness'. East Asian techniques, of course, had also been incorporated. From the Persian influences which once set miniature on its course, we now had the two poles of the west and east teasing out the old Indian content. Some of the artists of this generation kept growing, to evolve more individual styles in the course of time these were those like H.A. Gade, K.S. Kulkarni, N.S. Bendre and M.F. Husain, among others. The painters who came to maturity in the early fifties were often trained in the west: F.N. Souza, Ram Kumar, Akbar Padamsee, S.H. Raza, and Laxman Pal are only a few of the names that come to mind. Some of these painters were heavily under French influences. But this did not seem to cause any conflict in their minds, as it might have done to their predecessors. This was the vital difference. Without feeling alienated they accepted a clear-cut artistic identity — one challenged as 'western' by the older school, one suspect for more years to come, and that even well after Independence. It took another decade almost for the issues to become settled. The distinction between 'oriental' and 'occidental' in describing art vanished some time in the sixties, at least in major venues of Indian art. Quantities had imperceptibly changed the quality. As the new art became familiar it did not seem loreign'to some at least of the new generation. It had come to stay.

The creative discontent of these artists was with established positions or views, and they proceeded by a dialectical process to arrive at a new synthesis. It was a method of questioning rather than one of disowning the handed down styles or the heritage.

This whole modern movement was an expression of the secularized, individuated self that could be endlessly creative because it was not tied down to crippling social or institutional norms and conformities. The area of choice and the scope of the spiritual were widened. Only in immature hands, with freedom, came the itch for originality at any price. But with the best of them valuable human experiences were reflected in fresh works of art.

The liberation from fixed forms and rigid cultural demands has not been turned into license. The experience that such art works provide is touched by reverberations of significant values. It is fruitful in so far as it provides much food for thought for the painter himself — in terms of interesting technique; even as it pleases the viewer. The finest of them make use of art's experimental acquirements to build abiding creations. Thus the works of Raza, G.R. Santosh, M.F. Husain, F.N. Souza, K.S. Kulkarni, Biren De etc.

Whether because of limited technical means, or out of conviction, the technical experiments in painting since Independence have been restrained a confrontation mainly between the conventional brush and canvas ( or with stone and chisel, rather than a search for multi-media or the mobile or so on). Only graphics show a greater technical experimentation. It is not as technical experiments, then, that modern Indian art has been significant, but in the growth and expansion in the meaning of the individual works of art be it a painting or a sculpture. Thus the work of Santhanaraj. The works of the very many abstractionists or colourists like Jatin Das, Anjolie Ela Menon, George Keyt, Sabavala, Bimal Dasgupta etc. are much in line with the international trends but still distinguishable. These artists have really brought a new vision through experimentation in planes or colours. There are still other artists like Paresh Maity, Arpana Caur and Dhiraj Choudhury have broken new grounds in terms of a fresh branching off from the international movements. Sohan Qadri, Jatin Das, and of course K.G. Subramanyan or Ramachandran, for example, are fine artists who have absorbed their western cues to create superb draughtsmanship and to convey significant experiences.

Similarly, M.F. Husain, despite ups and downs and despite his Indian contents is also a ground breaker. Sakti Burman in his painting of the last decade too is a successful 'experimenter'. Here is a Paris domiciled Indian painter who has explored his heritage and brought a refreshing angle to painting. It is a new departure, whether or not we react to it. Similarly despite superficial similarities with the work of some western artists, the late G.R. Santosh brings a not-to-be-denied, integrated vision. These painters stand out from the rest, when one is thinking of experimentation. Santosh, Raza, and Biren De and Sohan Qadri are the so-called ‘Tantrics'. They have attempted to break out of the beaten paths of configuration or bland abstraction by private escape routes. Some one like the late Bhupen Khakhar struck out still another path, merely by caricaturing social reality. Bhupen's gentler work is more oblique and nevertheless can be deadly. Krishen Khanna could be added to this list of those who, not content with a current neo-romantic delicacy and visual lyricism, have widened the area of art by adding a harden prosaic element to it.These sundry additions of dimensions to the House of Indian Art, collectively adds to its heterogeneity and, therefore, its interest. It is this quality that Indian art has gained by the addition of genres. Still younger artists, like Sangeeta Gupta, Ashok Bhowmick, Atin Basak, Seema Kohli have each in individual ways composed remarkable paintings. Variety, after all, is the spice of life, as of art. Finally, the inclusion of Tai Situpa in this show adds much grace to the selection.

- Keshav Malik, New Delhi January 5 2008