Bengal Artists: Modern Takes on Ancient Traditions!

Indian Art: Visionary Expressions!

This is indeed India! The land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendour and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of a hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of traditions, the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable interest for alien prince and alien peasant, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and free, the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the world combined. Mark Twain.

Erotic India, exotic India, legendary India, an inexhaustible source of myriad inspirations, only India could be the incitement for a comment such as the above and, that too by a foreigner. India with its gift of an unbroken continuum of inspirational art has motivated its Indian artists and painters to produce Indian art that electrifies with its vibrantly colourful appeal. As Indian art gradually evolved from pre-historic rock paintings to the sophisticated murals of Ajanta and Ellora, the richly traditional folk art of rural India, bazaar art meant to appeal to British sensibilities, the Bengal School of Art and, contemporary Indian art, investors and collectors are beginning to show deep interest in Indian art in a strong showing of numbers.

Bengal Artists : Tiger Streaks!

After the pre-historic cave paintings and Ajanta and Ellora murals, miniatures, folk art, bazaar art or Company style ceased to inspire, the next phase in the history of Indian art, the Bengal school soon exhausted itself by the 1920's. The next phase saw a revolution in Indian art as Indian artists broke away from the traditional painting styles of India, looking ever westwards for inspiration. No matter, they soon developed their own individualistic styles, modern art artists whose paintings held a surface resemblance to cubism. They were paintings that tinged with traditional mysticism ignored the conceptual structure of Cubism, paintings better understood in Vedantic terms than spectral analysis.

Paintings that emphasised modern Indian artists never made a total break with the past as seen in the works of modern art artist, Jamini Roy. Attracting great attention in late 1930's and early 1940's, his style of covering large spaces in the same colour was highly reminiscent of the Kalighat pat folk style but in time he developed a complexity of style that no longer fit this simplistic description. As traditional art slowly evolves into an unique individualistic style, old converging with new, this new Indian art continues to echo the dictates of the Upanishads in that sensation and emotion derived out of vision and ecstasy are the most powerful human motive forces in the creation of art. It is this vision and ecstasy that the artist painters of rural and urban India use to preserve cultural traditions through illustrations of love stories, popular ballads, epics and folk tales that are instrumental in spreading religious and philosophical ideas along with social values and ethics. Due to their close contact with the masses, the work of Indian artists is imbued with a warmth and attractive simplicity that more than makes up for any lack of grace or technical brilliance. The culmination of folk art with the courtly traditions of painting has become the outstanding hallmark of Indian art done by Indian artists who give it a highly characteristic flavour.

Artist Profiles : Creaming the Crop!

Among the Bengal painters' artist profiles, it is Paritosh Sen, writer of distinction, a pioneer of modern Indian art and a student of Calcutta's Government College of Art & Craft that stands out. Seeking inspiration in Paris, he joined the prestigious art institution of Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts, amongst many others. Widely travelled, he is one of the few Indian artists to have met and spent time with the greats of modern art, Pablo Picasso and Brancusi. All these experiences left a lasting influence on him as a painter, influences visible in paintings by Paritosh Sen. A figurative art painter, he is a modern art artist who uses bold lines against 2-dimensional planes while managing to create an illusion of voluptuousness. A style that reflects his exposure to western art, he paints human figures with traces of cubism using his art to express his views on contemporary life. Best known for his socio-political caricatures and nude drawings of the female form, the highly colourful paintings by Paritosh Sen convey a myriad of emotions, the dominant feature of his art.

Suhas Roy, also one of the Bengal artists is known for painting his Radhas in a style reminiscent of the world of pre-Raphaelite painter, Gabriel Rossetti. Voluptuous Radhas with flowing tresses, entwined in highly decorative floral vines, Suhas Roy's paintings are imbued with hidden meaning and sensuality, realism shot through with an electric charge of mystically romantic fantasy. On a visit to Paris in 1960, he spent a month in Italy studying Raphael, Michelangelo and Da Vinci, the high priests of Renaissance art. A brilliant painting of Christ Suhas Roy sent to Goa depicts a pair of eyes that convey a sense of gloom and despair that he has captured in brown, sepia, black and Indian red. The muted poignancy of this painting displayed at an art exhibition caught the interest of a Vatican representative only the death of the Pope has delayed the decision to buy it. It is only a matter of time before the Christ of Suhas Roy reaches the Vatican, an extremely rare honour for any artist or painter of the world. Published last year, A Solitary Quest is a collection of Suhas Roy's renderings of sensual innocence, fantastical reality, albeit minus earlier works bought by collectors from different parts of the globe.

The artist profile of Sunil Das, Bengal artist indicates that he won a French scholarship to the same art institution in Paris beginning his art studies at the same Calcutta College as Paritosh Sen. Well-known for his powerful renderings of bulls, horses and human beings, he works both in oils, water colours and lithographs, Sunil Das is a two-time winner of the National Award whose paintings have also been picked up by collectors in Germany.

"The imagery in my paintings comes mostly from my personal experiences. It is the visual world and its influences on me, that I try to reveal on my canvas." so says Shyamal Dutta Ray. From the same Calcutta Arts College as Paritosh Senand Sunil Das, Shyamal Dutta Ray in his pensively melancholic works marked a turning point in the history of the Bengal school of art. He is credited with adding an intensity and depth to the medium of watercolours as opposed to the traditional light, watery colours, his paintings echoing the contradictions of life. A master water colourist, he mirrored the happiness, struggle and strife, sorrow, poverty and hope of Calcutta life, a hint of surrealism, irony and awareness of a society that is slowly disintegrating. Shyamal Dutta Ray has been widely exhibited at Mumbai, Delhi, Calcutta, Bangalore and, internationally at Poland, Germany, Australia, Algeria, Canada, United Kingdom, Iraq, France, Cuba, HongKong, Japan, the United States. His works also form part of the collections of National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi, the Victoria and Albert Museum, London and Glenbarra Museum, Japan.

Prokash Karmarkar, like other Bengal Artists studied painting at Government College of Arts and Crafts, Kolkata. Awarded the National Award by Lalit Kala Akademi (LKA) twice in 1965 and 1968, his other awards include those of Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata (1970) and Biria Academy of Art & Culture (1976). He was invited on a scholarship by the French Government in 1968 and, the collections of LKA in Lucknow, Bangalore and Delhi, Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal and Hyderabad all feature his works.

Indian Artists : Globally Vibrant!

Of late, the international trend for indian artistsand art paintershas been very positive as exposure to and, the presence of major Indian artists and painters helps the Indian art markets to grow. Indian art is gaining status as an unconventional investment in the domestic market while showing an upswing at the international level where contemporary Indian art is doing well. As awareness of Indian artists, painters and Indian art increases, there is immense potential for growth as a growing breed of international connoisseurs give Indian art a boost.

As contemporary Indian art dabbles in new hues of modernity, its prices have started outstripping those for ancient paintings and sculptures at Sotheby and Christie's. According to Mazumdar of Sotheby's: "Indian contemporary art is emerging as the fastest growing category in Asian art" and, the reason why collectors of global auction houses are stepping up their association with this genre.

What is it about contemporary Indian art that has suddenly captured global admiration? Suneet Chopra, art expert profoundly explains: The contemporary vision of our (Indian artists) artistic expression is the basic reason for it doing so well in the world. It is developed out of the challenge of an enslaved country (referring to the days when India was under the British rule) fighting the most powerful empire (the British) in the world at the time and succeeding in freeing itself".

Art columnist Nitin Bhaiya feels that the NRI's are forcefully driving the Indian art market by virtue of the Greenspan Effect i.e. rock bottom interest rates of US economy reflected globally have resulted in NRI's investing in Indian art to derive better returns for their money. In a ripple effect, buyers from France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Singapore, Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, Japan, U.K. and U.S.A are dominating Indian art auctions. In the global market of contemporary Indian art, the biggest collection of Hussains and Ganesh Pyne are to be found in Dubai, German collectors chase artists like Sunil Das, Manu Parekh, Sanat Kar and, Oriental and Islamic art works from Indian artists are surfacing at auctions in Holland.

From London to Germany, Singapore and Hong Kong, via the Middle East to New York, contemporary Indian art has begun to paint in global hues as Indian art houses foray into international markets. The reason to a large extent is strategic, Indians and international collectors says Mazumdar: have found that Indian art is good in quality, aesthetic, and available at a reasonable price. As in the past, India left the indelible impress of her high culture, not only upon religion, but also upon art, and literature, in a word, all the higher things of spirit." Rene Grousset, she continues to do so in the future!