Celebration 2016

Kumar Gallery presents "Celebration" a group show that includes around 45 paintings by modern masters like F.N Souza, MF Husain, S.H Raza, Ram Kumar, Satish Gujral, Krishen Khanna, K.H Ara, K.S Kulkarni, G R Santosh, B. Prabha, Sohan Qadri, A. Ramachandran, Jamini Roy, Ramkinkar Baij, Prodosh Das Gupta, N.S Bendre, K.G. Subramanyan, J. Swaminathan, Rameshwar Broota, J. Sultan Ali and Paresh Maity. A collateral event of India Art Fair 2016.

Accompanying the exhibition is a comprehensive book of 200 pages that not only includes artworks from the show and astute essays by art critic Keshav Malik, but also archives some of the early shows of Modern Masters at Kumar Gallery in the 1950’s and 60’s and most candid images of bonhomie amongst Indian artists, critics, and their mentors, the Kumars. Captured at various events over the last six decades, these images in the book serve both as visual documentation of historical importance as well as reflect on the evolution and growth of modern Indian art.

Says Sunit Kumar: “This is the sixth edition of Celebration show but this time, the emphasis is on modern masters whose aesthetic merit is not only publicly acknowledged but who are also academically most sound, the true avant garde of Indian modern art”.

The expanse of the show is undoubtedly reflective of Kumar Gallery’s impeccable art collection. The earliest work in the show is a 1938 oil on canvas by Ram Kinkar Baij titled Toilet (seated nude lady with maid combing her hair). Then, there is a late 1940s Jamini Roy depicting the finesse of his folk-based lines in a tempera work titled Man with Hookah. Some of the other highlights of the show are a 1996 Rameshwar Broota titled Scripted in Time (also the largest in the show at 70 by 90 inches), a 1984 acrylic on canvas titled Radha in Vrindavan by KS Kulkarni, and a striking work titled The Foreman from 1961 by F. N Souza. The show also includes never-seen-before works by Husain (a self portrait 1969), Paysage (1958) by S.H Raza, rarely seen impastos on paper by Sohan Qadri and an oil on canvas titled To The Market (1961) by N.S. Bendre.

- DelhiEvents