National Gallery of Modern Art {Part II}

By Sakhshi Mahajan

Although the NGMA houses works of art from 1857 onwards, it is believed that the modern Indian Art movement initiated with the Bengal School {early 20^th century} and the founder of this school, Abanindranath Tagore is referred to as the ‘father of Modern Indian Art’. While the first phase of this School aimed at looking back to India’s past to create nostalgic images of our tradition and culture, the second phase was concerned with understanding India in terms of what was happening in the Western world. This school’s influence started deteriorating in the 1920’s, due to a spread of modernist ideas. There were three artists who were responsible for introducing Avant Garde western styles into Indian art: Rabindranath Tagore and Gaganendranath Tagore from the Bengal School along with Amrita Sher-Gil.

AMRITA SHER-GIL  {1930’s} | LEVEL 3

Amrita Sher-Gil was one of the most promising Indian artists of the colonial era. She was born in Hungary and lived part of her life in Europe and part in India. At the age of 16 she attended Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, where her career in the arts initiated. She adopted the European style of naturalism and painted nudes, still life’s and self-portraits at the time. 

{Amrita Sher-Gil; Self Portrait; Oil on Canvas}

During the 1930’s, there were two prevailing art movements in the country; the first being the Bengal school the second being the Bombay School of Art. A void existed in the art scene and a woman artist arrived in India and created a powerful visual expression and a radical change. Her muse was the poor and she was very interested in painting women in their milieu. It was only after she returned to India in the mid 1930’s, that Shergil adopted her own distinctive style of painting that reflected her love for the country where the subject was the life of the people. As she was the daughter of a Sikh father and Hungarian mother, her mixed parentage and international art school background played a huge role in developing her unique style of painting.

An artist becomes historically significant if his/her work adds a breath of fresh air in an existing routine of some sort. That is the role Amrita Sher- Gil played in our country in the 1930’s.

{Amrita Sher-Gil; Three Girls, 1935; Oil on Canvas}

ARTIST COLLECTIVES | LEVEL 4

Artists collectives were groups and movements where artists would come together and work towards similar aims. Their thought process and styles usually overlapped. In anything creative sharing ideas and getting feedback can only be a positive thing, especially when you share ideologies, mediums and aesthetic or political views. These collectives played a crucial role in developing different modernist styles and giving shape to the contemporary art scene that followed. Innumerable “masters’ have been involved in these movements as well.

Young Turks {early 1940’s} |

It was the first modern artists’ collective formed in the early 1940’s. Charles Gerrard, the principal of the JJ School of Art at the time, encouraged these artists to hold their first show in 1941. The artists included PT Reddy, MY Kulkarni, AA Majeed, C Baptista and M Bhople.

{P T Reddy; Bird; Oil on Canvas}

Calcutta Group {1943- 1953} |

Pradosh Das Gupta, Paritosh Sen, Gopal Ghosh, Nirode Majumdar, Zainul Abedin and Subho Tagore founded the Calcutta group in 1943. This movement added a new life and expression to the already existing Bengal School of Art. Their works reflected and responded to the crises of the urban society and the social tensions at the time {including the Bengal Famine}, which was due to bad British colonial administration. These artists moved away from lyrical and romantic styles that were used before and adopted a formal treatment of painting.

{Paritosh Sen; Music Lovers; Oil on paper}

{Nirode Majumdar; Neta’s Ghat; oil on canvas}

Progressive Artists Groups, Bombay {1947-1956} | 

The Progressive Artists Group ran parallel to the Calcutta Group and made a vital contribution to the contemporary art movement in India. F.N Souza, M.F Hussain, S. H. Raza, K.H. Ara and H.A. Gade formed this group in 1947 immediately after the country’s independence. They rejected the nationalist art of the Bengal School and adopted international modern art practices and styles including expressionism, cubism, surrealism and primitivism. Other artists associated with the PAG include Akbar Padamsee, Tyeb Mehta, Krishen Khanna, Ram Kumar, V. S. Gaitonde and Bal Chabra. Initially the PAG had exhibitions with artists from the Calcutta group; eventually the former became the more influential movement.

“We came out to fight against two prevalent schools of thought in those days, the Royal Academy, which was British-oriented, and the revivalist school in Mumbai, which was not a progressive movement. The movement to get rid of these influences and to evolve a language that is rooted in our own culture was a great movement, and one that historians have not taken note of. It was important because any great change in a nation’s civilization begins in the field of culture. Culture is always ahead of other political and social movements.” M.F. Hussain on the PAG.

{A newspaper clipping of the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group, 1948}

{Front row, from left: F. N. Souza, K. H. Ara, H. A. Gade; seated behind, from left: M. F. Husain, S. K. Bakre and S. H. Raza

Displayed on the wall are: Souza’s Lovers and Nude Girl and Husain’s Toilet}

{F N Souza; Weeping King; Oil on Canvas}

{Krishen Khanna; Bandwala; Oil on canvas}

The different members of the PAG worked in dramatically different styles. While Souza was inspired by Expressionism, Gaitonde adopted Abstraction and others were influenced by European modernism. 

Additionally, during the year 1947 artists a number of artists migrated to Delhi, making it a dynamic art scene. These include Sailoz Mukherjee, B.C. Sanyal, Dhanraj Bhagat, Dinkar Kowshik, K.S. Kulkarni followed by Satish Gujral’s return from Mexico.

{Satish Gujral; Despair; Oil on hardboard}

The NGMA houses a huge collection of abstract art on Level 4. Vasudeo Gaitonde is considered to be the pioneer of Abstract art in India. He experimented with form and shape in his works and Zen philosophy had a huge impact on him. Nasreen Mohamedi and Jeram Patel also had an interest in Zen philosophy and elemental or non-platonic thought. Abstract art focussed on the purity of line, color and forms.

{V S Gaitonde; Oil on Canvas}

{Nasreen Mohamedi; Drawing IV; Ink on paper}

Baroda {early 1950’s} | 

With N.S Bendre, Sankho Chaudhuri and then young K. G. Subramanyan moving to Baroda by 1950-51, an active scene began emerging there. By the mid 1950’s, leading artists had begun to explore principles of modernist abstraction and started experimenting with non-representational forms and structures in their practice. The Baroda Group of artists were formed in 1956 with youngsters such as Shanti Dave, Jyoti Bhatt, Triloke Kaul, G.R. Santosh, Balkrishna, Ratan Parimoo, Praful Dave and subsequently, Gulam Sheikh, Himmat Shah, V.R. Patel and others. Interesting the well-known Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda was founded in 1949 as well.

ART MOVEMENTS IN THE LATE 20^TH CENTURY         

Art Movement of 1960  {BLOCK 4A} |

It was during the 1960’s that artists’ increasingly became interested with indigenism and traditional Indian art, local styles started inspiring their work. They looked at tribal and folk art, murals, miniatures, old manuscripts and texts. Some examples include

• - Jagdish Swaminathan: He opposed the modernist aesthetics that were introduced by the colonial powers. 

{Jagdish Swaminathan; Memory’s Journey; Oil on Canvas}

• - K.G. Subramanyan: He played a huge role in spreading the Santiniketan philosophy.

• - KCS Panikar: He founded the Cholamandalam artists’ community: “The figurative style of folk art, the anecdotal style of Indian miniatures, the grand epic style of traditional sculpture and the enrichments of iconic and calligraphic imagery, all became possibilities in their work”[2] 

{KCS Panikar; Words and Symbols; Oil on board}

Others include Laxma Goud, Bhupen Khakhar, Jogen Chowdhary, Ganesh Pyne,  S B Palsikar and K Ramanujam.             

{Laxma Goud; Untited; Mixed media}

{S B Palsikar; One without a second; Tempera}

 Art 1970 onwards {BLOCK 3A} |

It was during the 1970’s that artists brought a metaphysical dimension or used fantasy and myth to express personal fears, making works dreamy and magical. Some example of this were KG Subramanyan’s ‘Goddess at Goalpara’, A. Ramachandran’s “Incarnation” and Prabhakar Barwe’s “Blue Lake”.

{KG Subramanyan’s ‘Goddess at Goalpara’}

{A. Ramachandran’s “Incarnation”}

Post 1980s, Indian art again found radical new directions as new contemporary practices were adopted. Artists began using different forms; while painting and sculpture remained popular artists experimented with new media, material and techniques like site-specific installations. They also engaged themselves with different themes including gender, urban crisis, globalization and the environment. Some contemporary artists whose works are in the NGMA collection include: Vivan Sundaram, Nalini Malani, Paramjit Singh, Manu Parekh, Manjit Bawa, Rameshwar Broota, Jatin Das and Anjolie Ela Menon.

This article focused on different art movements that played a crucial role in establishing modern and contemporary art in our country. There are some key players whose works have been highlighted through the article. Historical reasons, both political and sociological have had a huge impact on Indian styles. Some artists incorporated indigenous traditions, while others turned to art practices abroad. It is interesting to note that India got its independence a couple of years after the end of the Second World War. With freedom, artists also got more opportunity and exposure to a world that was working towards modernization and globalization. Up until then, most of the world was inspired by artistic styles that originated in Europe; it was only after WW2 that America became the hub of new artistic movements as well.

We are a part of such a diverse culture and rich heritage. Artists usually get influenced and inspired by the environment and historical conditions that they are set in; Indian artists have and still continue to make their cultural milieu their muse. Additionally, India has always been closely connected with other countries and has been influenced by their styles. This amalgamation of traditional with international artistic practices has resulted in some of the most unique visual artistry in the world, a myriad collection of which is available on view at the NGMA. 

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