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ART SOUL LIFE
People’s art
expectations
It’s great to strive for brilliance, but
it’s also important to be patient with
our own growth process.
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ART SOUL LIFE
Editor
KARAN VERMA
My best friend has a gallery of her
own and needless to say, I love
spending time there, especially
during shows. Once a guy walked
in and asked if the gallery had that
picture of the girl riding a horse.
He wanted Husain’s Leaping Horse
painting that will cost a bomb and
assumed that since it was an art
gallery, we would have it in stock.
Sadly we didn’t. There is only one
of those. I reflected on that a long
time and what I figured out told
me a lot about how the customers
thought. He had seen a painting
he really liked and every time he
walked into an art gallery he looked
to see if it was there. That it was a
one of a kind object never crossed
his mind. He thought that every
artist made a unit like that. “Nope!
He doesn’t make that one!” He
thought it was like shoes, every shoe
company makes a penny loafer, it’s
a unit, not an original. There was
no way he would ever buy anything
other than the Husain. He probably
ended up with some ripoff of the
painting. Many of our visitors could
never be sold a painting because
they had seen one painting that
they liked and forever would walk
into galleries looking for it. Nothing
we had would do. He wanted that
Husain! There are challenges to
being a pro that many artists never
imagine. I routinely see art made
to compete in competitions. The
artist is out to get a knockout punch.
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They want to make the largest
damndest thing they can make. That
might be the way to win prizes, but
it’s not (at least usually) the way to
make a living in the field. In order
to make a living, you need to be
able to produce a steady stream of
salable paintings. Over a career that
might mean hundreds of them! You
have to be reliable and consistent.
The idea is to be valued not
discovered, at least in the art world
we inhabit. I have seen lots of flash
in the pan, this year’s hero artists
appear like shooting stars only to
disappear in the blinding light of the
next greatest thing. It is usually a
marathon and not a sprint. The key
might be style. Each painting must
be informed by the artist’s unique
personality more than the subject.
People seem to want pictures more
than manifestos. The worst of all
is when we subconsciously allow
other peoples’ expectations to define
our creative worth. Many of us
began making art because we were
inspired by others to do so. If we’re
not careful, however, our “hero
worship” can become a creative
noose. In his incredible book Free
Play, Stephen Nachmanovich
writes, “It’s great to sit on the
shoulders of giants, but don’t let the
giants sit on your shoulders! There’s
no room for their legs to dangle.” So
let’s not deny our own creative skills
and passions and try to live up to
someone else’s standard.
from any article, material which we consider could
lead to any breach of the law of libel. While we
do not knowingly include erroneous information,
the responsibility for accuracy lies with those who
submitted the material.
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discretion. We expect all advertisers to provide an
acceptable standard of service. Failure to do so will
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Editor: KARAN VERMA (responsible for selection
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ART SOUL LIFE
CONTENTS
ART SOUL LIFE
21
ART BRIEFS
10
16
BEING JOGEN
33
The ever-evolving living legend
seems to have mellowed with time
and become much simpler in the
execution of his lines, but the voice
of an artist, has become much
stronger with maturity
Young and talented Prutha Girme doesn’t
plan and paint — she interacts freely
with the canvas by employing various
techniques and media and the result is
there for everyone to see and appreciate
38
24
PAPER TIGER
If you let Ashok Kumar Varma loose
in your storeroom with stacks of old
magazines, he’d end up creating a
stunning paper collage without using a
drop of paint, ink or any other pigment
anywhere in it
THE LOST MASTER
It will be a true homage to the
legendary Gopal Ghose and a treat
for the art lovers if we can recover
the works of the artist who sold
them cheaply, or just gave them
away for nothing
PROLIFIC PRUTHA
42
ALL SINGING, ALL PAINTING
A four-day Sahaj Parab fest brings together
Pattachitra artists and diverse genres of
folk tunes from West Bengal, Rajasthan,
Assam and South India
ART SOUL LIFE
49
46
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD
59
66
FAKERS, FAKES & FAKE FAKERS
Mounted on a grand scale, Forms of
Devotion is a travelling exhibition, which
is like a pilgrim’s progress in rediscovering
the majesty, meaning, and mystery of
sacred India
54
THE POWER & THE GLORY
Eminent painters, sculptors shape their
imagination into marvellous artworks
to pay homage to Durga
59
WHEN GOD GOT A FACE...
Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya opens up a
fresh new discourse giving iconic painter
Raja Ravi Varma a public presence, but
his work and legacy is an impressive
reminder of the vitality of our arts
The business of art forgery gets
smarter as relatives, deputies and
even first family of artists jump into
the fray for quick money
ART SOUL LIFE
ART
BRIEFS
Revolutionary lost Caravaggio
painting identified
Several copies of Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy are
thought to exist
Caravaggio’s 1606 masterpiece, Mary Magdalen
in Ecstasy, is believed to have been discovered in a
private collection in Europe, an expert has claimed
T
he long-lost Caravaggio painting that the baroque master had
with him when he died in 1610 has finally been identified,
according to the world’s foremost authority on the artist.
Several copies of Mary Magdalen in Ecstasy are thought to exist. But
now the Caravaggio scholar Mina Gregori has said she is confident
of having made a “definitive” verification of the version that she has
studied in a private European collection. After years hunting for the
real thing, the eminent art expert and president of Florence’s Roberto
Longhi Art History Foundation, declared: “At last, it’s you”, after
finding herself seemingly gazing at the Caravaggio original. If true,
the discovery would be one of rare importance in Western art. Ms
Gregori said key characteristics of the painting, the first ever photograph of which was printed in La Repubblica recently, left no doubts
in her mind regarding its provenance. “The creation of a body with
varying tones, the intensity of the face. The strong wrists, crossed
fingers and beautiful hair … the wonderful variations in light and
colour – all show that it is Caravaggio,” she said. Caravaggio, born
Michelangelo Merisi, is celebrated for his revolutionary use of contrasting light and dark – chiaroscuro – that anticipated the work of
later baroque giants, including Rembrandt and Velazquez.
A Disposable Commodity, Indeed
Bob and Roberta Smith Calls NYC Artists to Throw Out Bad Art and Retire
B
ob and Roberta Smith is putting out a call
for your bad art. And he wants you to stop
making it, immediately. Beginning October
26 and running through March 8 at MoMA PS1,
Bob and Roberta will give New York City artists a
chance to throw in the towel. The artist is greatly expanding his Art Amnesty project, originally shown
at Pierogi Gallery in 2002. Maybe you never mastered oil. Maybe you can’t stretch a canvas to save
your life. Maybe your dealer ditched you because no
one cares about investigating color and texture anymore, and your work was derivative to begin with.
Here’s your chance to throw away the art cluttering
your living room-cum-studio in dumpsters provided
by the museum and located in their courtyard. There
will even be a chance to show your work one last
8 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
time to the public on the 2nd Floor Main Galleries.
Bob and Roberta will also have a pledge for participants to sign who wish to go the extra step—sorry
Baldessari, “no more boring art” is just not going to
cut it. The pledge reads: “I PROMISE NEVER TO
MAKE ART AGAIN.” But, if you’re not ready, and
that’s understandable, an alternative pledge is available that states: “I NEVER WANT TO SEE THIS
WORK OF ART AGAIN.” If you do sign the big
one you’ll get a badge to wear that reads: “I AM NO
LONGER AN ARTIST,” and you can make a final
work of art that will be shown in the Art Amnesty
gallery. He’ll also be joining in the purging festivities, destroying work from an old New York show.
Though it’s unlikely that this will be the end of Bob
and Roberta Smith, artist.
ART SOUL LIFE
ART
BRIEFS
The Picasso Museum is an art gallery located in the Hotel Salé
in rue de Thorigny, in the Marais district of Paris dedicated to
the work of the artist Pablo Picasso (1881–1973).
Picasso Museum finally reopens
P
resident François Hollande
of France reopened the
Picasso Museum in Paris
on October 25, 2014, after its €56m
(£44m) five-year renovation, calling
it “one of the most beautiful” and
“most moving” museums in the
world. The opening ceremony, on
the anniversary of Pablo Picasso’s
birthday, came three years later
than planned after the scandal-hit
project ran into huge delays and a
budget overrun of €22m. It is said
to be one of France’s most popular
museums, and Hollande described
it as moving “because it shows the
The scandal-hit
project ran into
huge delays and
a budget overrun
prolific work of the most famous
artist of the 20th century”. Standing in the 17th-century Hôtel Salé
in Paris’s historic Marais district,
Hollande said: “From room to
room, from floor to floor, we see
the evolution of Pablo Picasso and
the changes in periods. There is a
certain creativity that comes from
[his] personal life but also from the
history of the 20th century and its
tragedies; events that shocked the
painter and inspired the artist.”
The Musée Picasso houses one of
the world’s most important Picasso
collections, comprising more than
5,000 works. And it is now more
than double its previous size due
to the conversion of the museum’s
offices, stables and basement into
exhibition space. Most of the exhibits were left to the French state on
Picasso’s death in 1973 while some
were donated by his family.
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 9
ART SOUL LIFE
ART
BRIEFS
A ring of success for
Sculpture by the Sea
A peacock sculpture by Byeong Doo-moon titled ‘Our memory in your place’. (Photo credit: William West)
A stretch of beaches and parks on the Sydney coastline transforms
into an outdoor art gallery
A
merican artist Peter
Lundberg’s chunky bronze
artwork Ring will find a
prominent home in Sydney after
winning the $60,000 main prize in
Sculpture by the Sea exhibition.
Sydney already boasts a Lundberg,
thanks to Sculpture by the Sea. His
concrete work Barrel Roll — stylistically similar to Ring — won the
main prize in 2012 and now sits in
the Royal Botanic Garden. There
was good news for exhibit founder
David Handley when Premier
Mike Baird announced a four-year
renewal of funding for the popular
outdoor exhibition. About one-third
of the state government funding goes
10 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
and was held for one day around
Bondi Beach. It’s the world’s largest
free outdoor sculpture exhibition
and one of Sydney’s most popular
event. It is now an established yearly event, held for three weeks at the
end of October and early November. Every year over 500,000 people
make their way to the Sculpture by
the Sea – Bondi exhibition to view
art works on display for no charge.
School children play on the sculpture We’re Fryin’
Out Here by Andrew Hankin on Tamarama
This year there were 109 exhibiting
Beach. (Photo credit: Cameron Spencer)
artists, including 33 international
artists from Japan, New Zealand,
straight to the artists, most of who are
China,
Sweden, South Korea, Arout of pocket as a result of exhibitgentina, Czech Republic, Denmark,
ing in Sculpture by the Sea, Handley
England, Finland, Germany, Hong
said. Sculpture by the Sea along the
Kong, Spain, Thailand and USA.
Bondi to Coogee walk began in 1997
ART SOUL LIFE
ART
BRIEFS
Juergen Wolf, Matt Smith win Young
Masters Art Prize 2014
Winning artists to exhibit their work abroad as part
of the 2015 International Tour
German artist Wolf impressed
judges with his ironic looks at
icons and taboos
G
erman artist Juergen Wolf has been announced as
the winner of this year’s Young Masters Art Prize,
taking home the £1,500 prize. The prestigious award
was presented at Sphinx Fine Art in London’s West
End on October 29, 2014, by Charles Saumarez Smith,
chief executive of the Royal Academy of Arts. Wolf
was chosen from a shortlist of 30 international artists
for his ironic painted takes on icons, taboos and the
menaces of the civilised world. “I was very impressed by
the quality of the entries to the prize as a whole, greatly
enjoyed the process of selection of the winners and
12 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
found it interestingly difficult to pick the best,” Saumarez
Smith said. “But, in the end, there was a unanimous
decision.” Saskia Boelsums and Marwane Pallas were
highly commended and awarded an Artist’s Collecting
Society Prize of £500 for combining innovative skill with
an awareness of art history. The three winning artists
will exhibit their work abroad as part of the 2015 Young
Masters International Tour. Elsewhere, British artist Matt
Smith was awarded the inaugural Young Masters Maylis
Grand Ceramics Prize for his awareness of the craft’s
heritage and his “exceptional command of ceramics”.
ART SOUL LIFE
The Imperial War Museum, pictured, has
campaigned to display copyrighted works
during the First World War centenary ‘Blue
Ship’, by Alfred Wallis (Tate Britain)
6 Millions of unseen ‘orphan’
artworks to be put on show
Orphan Works Directive will put
unseen art on show
M
illions of culturally
valuable artistic works
and historically important
documents, such as wartime diaries,
letters, photographs and films, are
in the public domain for the first
time today after a new copyright
relaxation announced by ministers.
A new licensing scheme launched
by the Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills (BIS), UK,
is designed to give wider access to
at least 91m creative works which
have largely remained hidden from
public view because the rights holders
cannot be identified. Under the new
scheme, a licence can be granted by
the Intellectual Property Office so that
these works can be reproduced on
websites, in books and on television
without breaking the law. If rights
owners do subsequently come
forward they can be remunerated.
The relaxation means The Tate is
now legally able to digitally reproduce
images of 12 paintings by the St Ives
School artist Alfred Wallis, who died
in 1942. Until 2012 these pictures
were orphan works, as he died
without any surviving family.
ART SOUL LIFE
Affordable art is here to stay
Masters rub shoulders with emerging artists at
South Delhi’s Vision Art Gallery
Bhajju Singh Shyam, 30x23 inches on canvas
Shyamal, 36x36 inches, Acrylic on Acrylic sheet
14 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
Ramesh Gorjala
Manikandan Punnakkal
ART SOUL LIFE
ART
BRIEFS
V
ision Art Gallery at South Delhi’s posh
Vasant Vihar recently held Living Walls,
a show that proved to be quite a treat for
Capital’s art lovers as it brought together well-priced
masters along with works of emerging artists. The
colours used in the landscapes, movement in the
figurative works and the artists’ own expressions in
the abstracts aptly justified the title.
Works of masters like Laxma Goud and T.V.
Santosh were exhibited along with beautiful
serigraphs of M F Husain. The movement that
H.R. Das gives his bulls was appreciated by one and
all. The vivid and dominating greens on Sandeep
Jidgung’s canvas were another draw for all those
present at the preview held on October 18, 2014.
The colours are clearly a tribute to his vision and
impression of North East India, from where he
belongs. The shades of green represent both nature
and human existence. On the other hand, Shyamal
Mukherjee’s favourite medium is reverse oil on
acrylic sheet. He likes to focus on the fact that each
individual has a great deal in common with all
others. That is why he paints people in pairs or larger
groups, highlighting that through they are physically
separate, there is no real difference between their
characters and behaviour.
The colourful palette in the works of Suparna
Mondal and Padmakar Santape, and the realism in
works of Swaraj Das also caught attention of the
visitors. Paintings of Kerala artists Anandakrishnan
SK and Madhu V were also displayed. The Gallery
is chalking out plans to promote Gond art in the
national and international art market. “As we know
Gond tribal community is one of central India’s
largest indigenous communities and their art is an
expression of their every day quest for life,” says
gallery promoter Dr Preeti Maroo. “The mythical
beasts and the intricate detailing of flora and fauna
are the dominant themes that have animated the
lives of Gond tribals for centuries and their art is
used as means to record history.” She says Gond
art with its vibrant and compelling patterns has
already captivated the international art market.
“This exposure has transformed the lives of these
tribal artists encouraging them to transcend cultural
barriers and paint the language of the universe in
their own special way.” A few works of Jangarh
Singh Shyam, Ram Singh Urveti, Bhajju Shyam,
Mayank Kumar Shyam have been displayed at
the Gallery. Earlier, the Gallery showcased mural
artists from Kerala. The paintings echo the feeling
of Indian spirituality prismed through age-old
mythologies. The works of Manikandan Punnakkal
and Promod MV were highly appreciated. Dr
Maroo says the Gallery’s objective is to bring works
of contemporary upcoming artists at the doorstep
of art lovers and art enthusiasts. “The Gallery
makes all efforts to meet requirements of art lovers
irrespective of the budget,” she says. “The Gallery
also tries to bring forth art from remote areas in
India and give a taste of artworks from other parts
of the world. The Gallery is trying to establish itself
as art lovers’ paradise.”
Swaraj Das, Acrylic on canvas, 32X40 inches
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 15
ART SOUL LIFE
HEART-TO-HEART
16 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
ART SOUL LIFE
BEING
With the passage of time, the ever-evolving living
legend seems to have mellowed and become much
simpler in the execution of his lines, but the voice of an
artist, who’s a Rajya Sabha MP also, has become much
stronger with maturity and experience.
TEXT: TEAM ART SOUL LIFE
T
here’s a reason — or rather,
there are innumerable reasons,
in the form of paintings,
drawings, sculptures, etchings,
lithographs, writings and more
— why Jogen Chowdhury is
one of our greatest living
artists. “Jogen belongs to what
I term the second generation of modern Indian
artists, and is one of its most important voices that
appeals to both East and West,” explains Dadiba
Pundole of Mumbai’s Pundole Art Gallery. For well
over five decades - and at 75, he still does new work
– Jogenda as he’s fondly called in art circles, has
created hundreds of works, many of them instantly
recognisable masterpieces for their distinctive fluid
lines and simple forms defined by crosshatching. Of
course, scores of towering 20th-century artists
(Husain, Gaitonde, Raza, Souza and on and on) have
enjoyed prolific, long-lived careers. But Jogen
Chowdhury can easily be called the face of the
socially conscious art and this position as our most
powerful art world representative is largely due to his
political statements and the conscientious stance he
chooses to make with his art. Meeting him for the
first time, it’s clear that the well-spoken, approachable
and conscientious artist is an intense person who
loves to speak his mind. But as Oscar Wilde put it, art
is the most intense mode of individualism that the
world has known. Direct, but not rude, he’s nothing if
not brutally honest. No one will ever doubt how he
feels about them or about any subject that might
come up in conversation. While some of his artistic
creations are socially aware without advertising for
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 17
ART SOUL LIFE
Unlike others
nominated to
the Upper House,
who’d rather keep
quiet, I like to shed
light on issues that
help improve society
18 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
rhetoric, others are blatant in their criticism of reality.
Some simply record what is, and the impulse to react is left
to the society. Either way, we see our world reflected back
to us through the interpretation of the genius that he is.
“It’s often not enough to have art for art’s sake or art for
the sake of a patron’s interests,” says the high-profile artist,
who’s also a Trinamool Rajya Sabha MP. “Unlike others
nominated to the Upper House, who’d rather keep quiet, I
like to shed light on issues that help improve society,” he
says. But what if his opinions and suggestions are not
exactly in sync with the party line? “That won’t happen.
But if it does, I’ll accept what my party has to say. At the
same time, if I feel my party’s opinions are wrong, then I’ll
try to make them see reason. We need that space. Artists
may not be great politicians, but we have good ideas,” he
says. Something about him tells you he will manage his
way around issues. Like a well-groomed motivational
speaker, he’s a natural in front of the camera and audience
of any size. Clad in his trademark kurta-pyjama, he
inspires us with corny humour and down-to-earth truths
he’s uncovered working in India and abroad. His affable
and boyish charm is a breath of fresh air. He will pull you
in with his sincerity and “can do” attitude and he will
make you think about what is really important in life and
why attitude is everything. He has relevant, funny stories to
share which are guaranteed to provoke laughter, as well as
bring the point home. “I’m not a politician, but I’m an
artist who is socially conscious. I’m not among those who
ART SOUL LIFE
would keep quiet when I see some
wrong happening. Like I have already
put forth my views in Parliament on
UPSC exams issue.” But why UPSC?
Why not art? “I have an old connection with the Commission. I got my
first big job as the curator of paintings
in Rashtrapati Bhavan in 1972 after
clearing an UPSC exam. Later, the
post was changed to Keeper of Art. I
made that happen. I was in Rashtrapati Bhavan for 15 years till 1987
taking care of more than 3,000
artworks,” he informs. Not just our
own political scenario and incidents
like riots and Bhopal Gas Tragedy, a
lot of his works are inspired by global
happenings like war in Iraq, Russia,
and the Abu Ghraib incident etc. “I
think it’s a responsibility for any artist
to protect freedom of expression and
to use any way to extend this power,”
20 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
he says. Already on a house-hunting
spree in the Capital, Jogenda ensures
us that he intends to take up issues
like real and fake art, which is
bugging the Indian art industry,
during the winter session of Parliament. “I will suggest that there should
be a body under Lalit Kala to authenticate art works,” he says. Jogenda is
in no mood to spare even the Rashtrapati Bhavan where he was the guest of
President Pranab Mukherjee for being
the inaugural artist “In-Residence
Scheme for Writers and Artists.” He
says he had met the President during
his two-week stay and made his
portrait also, but “I wasn’t very glad
to see the care and maintenance of
the place. I’ve made a list of things
that can be done and I’ll give it to the
President when I meet him next.”
Ditto with Parliament House, which
he says lacks the services of a
“knowledgeable” person who
understands design. “There are
beautiful murals on the walls, which
are hidden behind the security
scanners,” he informs. “The statue of
Vivekananda, a beautiful personality,
seems deformed. Inside the hall, there
is no symmetry in the frames and
paintings. Some frames are golden
and shining, while others appear
tarnished. So, there should be some
person assigned to look after the
interior design. I will write to the
Chairman of the Rajya Sabha on this
matter.” The state of art in our
schools is another issue that bugs the
Professor Emeritus of Visva Bharati
University, Santiniketan. “Art
education in schools is not for making
artists,” he laughs. “Rather, it is for
creating an awareness of the subject.
ART SOUL LIFE
Art education is important, but a lot needs
to be taken care of. I have made syllabus for
West Bengal schools from Class I-V. Then,
again I would like to make the syllabus for
Class VI-X and revise the course for Class
XI and XII.” It must be mentioned here
that like Ganesh Pyne, Sunil Das and
several others of his generation, Jogenda
graduated from the Government College of
Art and Crafts, Calcutta, and then like
Paritosh Sen, started his career as an art
teacher. Though he doesn’t tell you in as
many words, but his fierce demeanour
could have something to do with his roots,
which he draws from Maharaja Pratapaditya, whose fierce spirit of Hindu independence from Muslim yoke, and epic battles
against the Mughal imperialists made him
the most famous legendary hero for the
Hindus in Bengal. “Though I put a Chowdhury to my name, we are originally
Mishras from Kannauj. During my grandfather’s time, King Pratapaditya gave us land
along with four others in Faridpur, Bangladesh,” he informs. “But when we came to
India during Partition, we got just `60,000
as compensation.” Jogenda recalls life was
tough in refugee camps and if it wasn’t for
his parents, who were both artistic by
nature, it could’ve been worse. He says, “I
had certain talent and was fond of drawing,
clay modelling etc. I picked up the art of
unbroken line watching my mother work on
her alpana.” His talent was recognised early
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 21
ART SOUL LIFE
and doors seemed to open all
around. The artistic streak in the
family made it easier for him to face
the stark realities of poverty. During
his college days, he would often go
to the Sealdah station to draw the
East Bengal refugees who lived on
platform for two decades before
being re-settled. He worked in a
Handloom House before leaving for
studying art at the prestigious Ecole
des Beaux Art, Paris, and returned
to India later to work briefly again as
a designer for a Handloom House.
In 1972, he finally joined the
Calcutta Painters’ Group before
moving to Delhi as the curator of
the art collection at Rashtrapati
Bhawan.” Jogenda, who now lives at
Shantiniketan, says he quit his job at
22 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
President House because he did not
want to remain a government
servant. “I had cleared the UPSC
exam to be the curator in the
President House and it was tough at
that time but I wanted to go back to
Tagore’s place. I can actually feel
Tagore’s soul around me, which is
so soothing,” he says. But are there
any changes he has witnessed in
Shantiniketan down the years? “Yes,
of course,” he says, adding, “Change
is a constant factor. Just as Delhi or
any other place has changed, so has
Shantiniketan. It could have been a
much better place if things were
done according to Tagore’s dream.
Down the line, there were very
erudite and educated V-Cs, but they
could not do anything that could
have improved the quality of place.
People have come, bought land and
just built houses. Hotels have
sprouted haphazardly. For Vasantotsav, almost five lakh people converge
at that place! So, it has become more
like Tirupati, with very little
understanding of planning.” He says
work-wise also, there’s a huge
difference working in the West and
here in India. “In the West, people
have security of living, which we do
not have here in India. I remember
meeting this artist in Holland who
was given money and a studio by the
government to pursue his creative
activity. But here in India, we are
very insecure because of the lack of
government support,” he concurs.
ART SOUL LIFE
THE LOST
Master
It will be a true homage to the legendary Gopal Ghose and a treat for the art
lovers if we can recover the works of the artist who sold them cheaply, or
just gave them away for nothing, says Anindya Kanti Biswas
24 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
ART SOUL LIFE
We are blessed with achievers in almost all
fields – be it science, humanities or applied
aesthetics. Gopal Ghose is one such luminary in the field of Visual Arts, who dedicated his life single-mindedly to the cause of
his artistic endeavour. A contemporary of
stalwarts like Sailoz Mukherjea, Ramkinkar
Baij and Benode Behari Mukherjee, Ghose’s
work exudes the same raw ethereality, which
is a characteristic feature of that period. Yet,
it’s unfortunate that despite being talked
about highly by the art cognoscenti, he didn’t
get his due as long as he lived. His dedication to art was almost near obsessive. This
was quite apparent during the exhibition
celebrating his Birth Centenary, which was
jointly hosted by Ākār Prakār of Kolkata and
National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi,
and curated so well by Dr Sanjay Kr. Mallick
of Visvabharati, Santiniketan. The legend’s
daughter, Ms Deepa Bose, told us that her
father was “uncompromisingly religious
regarding his own subject” as well as those
inter-related to his field. Talking about “Gopal Ghose the artist” and “Gopal Ghose the
father, friend, husband and human being,”
she had said in October last that though he
was involved in his family life, when it came
to creativity and studying related theories,
he was as uncompromising as any. Ms Bose
says her father loved being around the house
and cooking for his family and taking good
care of his loved ones, but not at the cost of
his passion. “As a child, I would cry or may
be throw tantrums to draw his attention. But
he would calmly pick me up and either place
me somewhere close to him, or hold me in
his arms. Thereafter, he would continue with
whatever activity that he was engaged in
without even bothering to indulge me in any
way. Gradually, I would calm down perhaps
realising the fact that he would not indulge
me in any way,” she recalls.
He always got deeply affected by the social
atmosphere around him. The unnecessary
upheavals and the resultant hardships that the
common man had to go through when the
socio-political scenario was going through
rapid changes in those days made him restless. All of this got reflected in his works.
Born in Kolkata on December 5, 1913, he
was brought up amidst the scenic and serene
beauty of Shimla where his father, Khetra
Pal Ghose, was posted as a Captain in the
Royal Indian Army. Ghose as a child had
the chance to grow up amidst an uninhibited
feast of silent forms - the forms of Nature.
His father, too, shared the artistic streak of
his son to a certain extent. Ghose Senior had
diverse cultural interests, including photography and sketching, and an innate inclination
towards craft (he could carve small blocks
of wood to be used as a mould for sweets).
It was he who encouraged his son’s interests
in visual arts and got him admitted to the
Maharaja’s School of Art and Craft in Jaipur
under the tutelage of Sailendranath Dey (the
disciple of Abanindranath Tagore). Here,
Ghose spent the preliminary years of his artistic trajectory from 1931-35 and completed
the course as a topper.
He spent a major part of his formative years
at Banaras and Allahabad as well. The lanes
and the byelanes, inimitable and ancient
riverfront, temple bells and vast crowded
market places etc. of one of the most ancient
human settlements cast indelible impressions
on him. After completing his school education from Allahabad, he convinced his father
to allow him to enter the art school. Later, he
joined the Madras Art School for advanced
study under well-known sculptor and painter,
D. P. Roy Chowdhury, where he worked
from 1935-38. Here, we need to mention that
Roy Chowdhury’s method of training and
tutelage attracted a lot of people. This
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 25
ART SOUL LIFE
He had great
admiration
for Abanindranath,
Nandalal, and Jamini
Roy’s art, but he
also had the same
respect for Matisse,
Picasso and other
Western artists.
26 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
legendary stalwart’s versatility as a
teacher was as famous as that other
great legend, Nandalal Bose. Ghose
also conveyed to his family that as a
young aspiring artist in those days,
he had been attracted to this
charisma of Roy Chowdhury. If we
look at this particular phase in his
training itinerary, we may ask
ourselves the inevitable question:
what is it that had made him go to
this second prestigious institution for
further advanced study – what was
he looking for? Ghose also undertook an extensive journey on his
bicycle aiming to have a look at the
country in detail. Ms Bose is of the
opinion that despite all that selfabsorbing and intricately centripetal
dependence on soul searching
through the beauty of landscapes, he
was essentially looking for the
mysteries that lay within the human
psyche. His search and thirst for
novel avenues and the need to go to
a new location was the chief reason
for him to have joined the Madras
Art School. His batchmates, who
were naturally junior to him by
several years, openly acknowledged
ART SOUL LIFE
that having Ghose as a senior was one
of the most enriching experiences one
could have, while being trained at such
a prestigious institution. Once at
Madras, the fast changing hues and
the wonderfully dynamic “blue” and
“sea-green/turquoise” ambience of
the Madras sea-side added to his
already existing vast colourful treasury
of formal experience. He used softer
and carefully controlled lines in all his
works. The colourful patterns are
subdued and have a lyrical dreamy
atmosphere about them. Although
Ghose was a student of two great
masters - Sailendranath Dey and D. P.
Roy Chowdhury - yet he developed a
unique style of his own. Whereas, the
former had a lot of flowing lyricism in
his lines and the themes were mostly
influenced by mythology, the latter’s
work had a lot of pedantic elements in
his works, including the grandeur of
feudalism. Ghose was not influenced
by either. His simplistic approach was
more like that of Baij with much
dependence on the ‘concrete reality’
(the placement of different components was maintained with high
degree of proportionality) that he
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 27
ART SOUL LIFE
Gopal Ghose 8in x 12in Water Colour on Paper
His oeuvre will
continue to make
us believe in ourselves
despite all the negativities
that are usually associated
with assessment and
understanding of an
individual from the
viewpoint of empathetic
impartiality.
28 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
usually liked to depict in his paintings;
his works and his unique styles of art
became extremely contemporary. He
came back to Kolkata in 1938 and
joined as a teacher with the Indian
Society of Oriental Art founded by
Abanindranath Tagore. Quite a few
works of that period survive with
dates in the late thirties and the
forties. Done in opaque watercolour,
they are products of an imagination
nurtured in the Indian aesthetic
tradition, though mostly refracted
through Bengal School’s ideological
formulation of a nationalist art. The
figures and forms in their stylized
linear evocation bear no evidence of
the young artist’s direct experience of
nature or his intense visionary
perception of it. No doubt, they
display the strength of his talent, but
bear no hint of the great transformation Ghose’s aesthetic concept would
later undergo through his quiet
absorption of the influence of
modernism. The huge body of his
work that we see today gives us the
pleasure of enjoying the natural
beauty of India’s abundant landscapes
from his perspective of a byegone era.
He was felicitated by that untiring
champion of youth, Jawaharlal
Nehru. “He has an extraordinary gift
of drawing,’’ said Abanindranath
Tagore. Let us take up a few works of
his to understand this particular
perspective of his. During the great
famine of Bengal, people had left
their villages and rushed to Kolkata in
search of food and other related
necessities. This mass exodus and
misery of people had become the
subject of many contemporary artists
and littérateurs. On the contrary,
Ghose insisted on showing peace and
prosperity of Bengali rural areas.
Titled as “Return to Village”, this
series depicted the loving, caring
ART SOUL LIFE
aspects of the Bengal village. His other
paintings of that period - “Lord Christ on
Cross”, “Girl at the Bus stop”, “Portrait
of a Friend” etc. too are seemingly in the
same mode. From one perspective – a
truly negative one – he may be termed as
an “escapist”; in fact, many in his own
extended family had misunderstood him
to be as such. We have come to understand that this was just another way of
coming to terms with reality. Ghose was
grossly involved in landscape paintings
and his lines were unique and of a
particular style. The main objective of his
line drawing, as one can understand, were
to try and bring out the beauty of the form
in as many different ways as possible –
whether stationary or animated. Rhythm
is the main characteristic feature of his
landscapes and his lines are much more
individualistic than that of the other
artists. His paintings can inspire poets to
write verses because the applicational
efficacy of linearity and geometricity are
almost perfect. Govordhan Ash once
commented that the lines of an artist
should have the descriptive clarity similar
to that of a band of marching soldiers.
The sharpness and clarity of his lines are
like that of a whip and thus, they effectively create images exactly as if a master
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 29
ART SOUL LIFE
Tree, Pastel on paper, 17 x 9.05, Circa 1940
A contemporary of stalwarts like Sailoz
Mukherjea, Ramkinkar Baij and Benode
Behari Mukherjee, the works of Gopal Ghose exude
a raw ethereality, which is perhaps a characteristic
feature of that period.
30 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
performance is being given by a
fencing expert. All his paintings are
“normal” size. Quite a few western
critics, like E. B. Havell have ridiculed
this aspect saying Indian paintings in
general belong to the genre of
“miniature paintings’’ as they do not
always conform to the usual western
size which usually exceeded the 2/2
quotient. Artist, critic and art
historian Sovon Som, however,
categorically emphasized, “It is not
the size, but the scale that matters.”
Furthermore, he reiterated that the
beauty of a painting flourishes only
when the objects depicted as such, are
proportionate according to the actual
physical area of the material on
which it is being presented. It is not
surprising therefore that the works of
Ghose pose some awkward and
uncomfortable problems to the
modern critic. To brush him aside
would be impossible because of the
unique character of his creations. He
demands attention by the superb
craftsmanship with which every work
is executed and the aesthetic heights
attained by them. On the other hand,
it is difficult to interpret his art in
terms of the criteria of modern art.
Ghose had a penchant for things that
appeal to the senses, and judged from
the present day ‘intellectual’ stand,
this approach to art is decidedly
antiquated. Again, in his art we find
the granite quality of classic composition, an interest in the free textures of
lines; and in his treatment of colours
the delicate control of orchestral
music. His quest had been to capture
the fleeting mystery of colours that
results from the incidence of light of
nature. His landscapes are thus not
the topographies of particular places,
but contemplations of the varying
moods of nature. He had great
admiration for Abanindranath,
Nandalal, and Jamini Roy’s art; but
he had the same respect for Matisse,
Picasso and other Western artists. In
his art we find a strange synthesis of
all his impressions of their works and
ART SOUL LIFE
the result is something that is different
and reaches beyond them. He never
hesitated to acknowledge his indebtedness, while pursuing a lonely and
original course. A true devotee of Shri
Ramkrishna Paramhansa Dev, Ghose
paid immense tribute to Paramahansa
Dev’s “Kathamrita.” He kept himself
away from any undue criticism of
other artists. Many of his contemporaries misunderstood him, but Gopal
Babu had no complaints. He once told
his daughter that “When I die, make a
pyre of my paintings to burn my body,
don’t waste money buying fire wood.”
He obviously said this while in a
moment of dark despair. These words
have a familiar ring for those who
have read about artists killed by
neglect and poverty for all their
passionate dedication to art. One may
even find a matching quote from what
Van Gogh might’ve said to his brother
Theo in moments of his depression.
Ghose had won love, respect and
acclaim in Kolkata’s art world in the
decades following independence. But
was he ever rated more than a
“major” minor painter?
The art viewers of today have not
seen the earlier colourful, lyrical
works of Ghose. Those works were
lost in the dark, or in the possession of those who hardly know their
worth. Gopal Babu sold his works at a
nominal price, or very often he would
give them away for nothing. Those
works are now hard to be found. If
any gallery or any private collector
can recover them, now that would be
a true homage to Ghose Babu and a
treat for the art lovers of today and
that will be the only fitting tribute to
him. One need not be a “so called
intellectual” to understand and appreciate his work of art. The subject
of his study of ordinary people and
their lives and the daily routine along
with his understanding of nature’s
beauty made him unique among his
contemporaries.
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 31
ART SOUL LIFE
32 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
ART SOUL LIFE
PROLIFIC PRUTHA
Young and talented Prutha Girme doesn’t plan and paint —
she interacts freely with the canvas by employing various
techniques and media and the result is there for everyone
to see and appreciate
Pune-based Prutha Girme is a talented
abstract based artist whose work focuses
on landscape and portraits. She attended
the University of New South Wales in
Sydney and received a Master’s degree in
Art with a specialization in painting and
minor in photography. Prutha’s work has
been featured in international publications
and media and she has had multiple group
exhibitions in Australia, Sri Lanka and
India and several solo shows in Pune. She
describes herself as an intuitive artist who
goes by her feelings and emotions. “When
I paint, I don’t try to have any concrete
idea of what the end result will look like,”
she says. “Instead, I know what the end
product should feel like and that allows me
to freely interact with the canvas through
the use of various techniques and mediums. It allows me to explore things since
I don’t try to restrict the creative flow. My
paintings allow people to feel in different ways and connect with art.” Besides
exhibitions, she conducts workshops and
art classes for all age groups at her studio
in Baner, Pune.
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 33
ART SOUL LIFE
34 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
ART SOUL LIFE
That is the reason why I exhibit my work
in as many different places as I can, like
art galleries, flea markets or even public
art events etc.
How come you are a fine art professional but you’ve done your Bachelors
in Business Administration with IT?
How do the two things match?
Yes, that’s true. But surprisingly it has
helped me more than I thought it would.
This degree has taught me to view the
market from a buyer’s perspective. In the
sense that I understand marketing and
economics better than I think most art
graduates. So it has been a very beneficial thing, especially in a country like
India where promoting your art and
making yourself visible as an artist to the
right kind of people can make or break
your career.
How important is it to you that art
should be accessible to everyone?
When I paint, I don’t try to restrict
myself, or I don’t start with a finished
product in mind. I let the feeling I want
to capture flow seamlessly onto the
canvas through paints and I want the
audience to feel the emotions that I have
portrayed. I believe people’s lives and
personal growth is enhanced by experiencing art no matter what form of art
it is. I think that it’s very important for
art to be accessible to everyone. Without
art we would be a drab and colourless
society. So yes, everyone, irrespective of
their buying capacity or even willingness
to buy art should be able to experience it.
What are you engaged in at present and
what projects have you planned for the
future?
The current theme I’m working on is
based on the environment. With all the
extreme events that are happening due
to climate change, humanity is feeling
the adverse effects of all the atrocities we
have committed on the earth. So my next
project is based on our environment (the
earths) and what I feel about it, what the
environment makes us as humans feel. I
want to focus on the huge changes that
we haven’t seen before and all the drastic
and dramatic changes like the floods and
cyclones and droughts that are occurring
all over the world. Also squares! Squares
and more squares! Square windows are
my current muse. To me windows are
like square peepholes into rooms and the
people who live in them. So windows tell
stories and I’m working on the abstraction of these stories. In this country of
more than a billion people, there are so
many windows. The late nights, the party
nights, happy days, sick rooms, silent
rooms, family rooms, libraries; they all
have different windows, different squares,
different moods and colours, that is what
I’m working on. Trying to capture what
stories go on behind these windows. Like
I mentioned earlier, I want my art to
be accessible to everyone, so I’m currently planning an after hours exhibition,
maybe outside closed cafes or in abandoned places frequented by people or just
on the streets for that matter, basically I
want art to be visible on a large scale. On
a larger and more long-term plan, I want
to continue having exhibitions around
the world. I know that as a whole it’s a
pretty big project, but the point is that
I want a larger audience with different
cultures and backgrounds or mentalities
to see/feel my art. Again the point is to
integrate art into the lives of people, be it
art lovers or people who are indifferent to
the concept of art.
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 35
ART SOUL LIFE
You have been exhibiting your
work in India as well as abroad.
What is the difference between
exhibiting here and outside the
country?
The main difference I have
observed is that people have a different concept in mind when they
come to exhibitions or just come
across art anywhere for that matter, they appreciate it for its differences keeping an open mind. They
can equally appreciate realistic art
as well as abstraction. Since I specialise in abstract or semi-abstract
art, I have found it difficult in
India to find people who appreciate my art since I feel that most
people here try to find something
that they can directly relate to or is
realistic in the extreme; anything
36 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
that they cannot understand is
dismissed from their minds.
Besides exhibitions, you conduct
workshops. What do you emphasize on in your workshops?
I want people to understand art.
I want them to know art is about
freedom of expression that they
can feel and depict things in their
own way. Basically for me, art is
more about what one can feel,
more than what’s seen or one can
see. My job is just to make them
find a way to paint that is best
suited for them to express themselves (Be it realistic, surrealistic
or abstract). In the end, theory can
only get you so far, any good art
has soul that has been poured into
it by the artist.
ART SOUL LIFE
PAPER
Tiger
If you let Ashok Kumar Varma loose in your
storeroom with stacks of old magazines, he’d end up
creating a stunning paper collage without using a drop
of paint, ink or any other pigment anywhere in it
To get the most original art, use original
source material! But even kids know
torn paper collage technique is not a
new invention. So what makes Ashok
Kumar Varma so special? “My collages
are very different from the conventional
paper collages,” says the Sujangarhborn artist, who’s a qualified engineer.
“I have been creating paper collages
since last 27 years and developed my
own unique individual style in this art
form, never seen before.” A close look
at his work makes it clear that though
his creations have the completeness of a
full-blown oil or a mix media painting,
he doesn’t use even a drop of paint,
38 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
ink or any other pigment. “Everything
I create is with bits of paper from
discarded magazines only, sometimes
as small as 2 mm in size,” informs the
holder of the Limca Book of Records
-2002, for intricately designed paper
collages with illusion of mix-media/
oil painting. “A work of size 30X
40” takes me about 16 to 18 weeks to
complete. All my works carry different
themes varying from sexual fantasies to
mythology as well the realities of life.
I work with realistic and surrealistic
forms.” With their splendid array of
colours, textures, and patterns, Varma’s
collages have an alluring beauty unlike
ART SOUL LIFE
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 39
ART SOUL LIFE
any other artform. “These are made
on specially made paper board and
everything is created with bits of
paper cutouts only from discarded
magazines,” he says. “I have created
more than 130 such works of
different sizes. Some are in private
collection of industrialists and
individuals in Kolkata, Bangalore
and Dubai.” With three solo shows
and numerous group and annual
shows, Varma is an established artist
in Kolkata. “You are always welcome
to come and see the original works in
my New Alipore Studio in Kolkata,”
he says. Here are some comments
and reviews on his art works
published in the media:
Varma’s collages are not mere
re-arrangement or assimilation of
photographs and paintings to recreate forms ; his collages have the
40 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
completeness of full-blown paintings
and yet they have no place for ink/or
any other pigment. It may not be
wrong, therefore, to describe his work
as pure collage ; each of his collages
isa work of love, dedication and
patience. His works reflect a mature
and serious mind at work.’
- THE TELEGRAPH
Anyone who has seen Varma’s
collages has to admit his
perseverance. Working with tiny bits
of paper he creates large composition
that gives illusion of painting…and
leaves one guessing.
- THE STATESMAN
The artist’s craftsmanship was
evident in the painstaking assembly
of each work, from the search for
colours and textures of paper with
which to articulate his concepts, to
the meticulous use of these
without adding any other elements
such as paint.
- THE ASIAN AGE
Collage, for Varma, explodes its
conventional definition – that of
cutting out images and pasting
them in symmetrical order. He
takes pains to cutout bits of paper
sometimes as small as 2mm in size
for achieving the desired effect. The
result resembles a three dimensional
painting.
- THE HINDUSTAN TIMES
Collage medium was started by
Picasso and Brake, after which lot of
experiments have been done on this
medium by many artists but no doubt
Varma has taken up this
art form into new heights.
- KALA DRISTI (Oriya Daily)
ART SOUL LIFE
All singing, all
Painting
A four-day Sahaj Parab (Root Music) fest at Kolkata’s Rabindra
Sadan brings together Pattachitra artists and diverse genres of
folk tunes from West Bengal, Rajasthan, Assam and South India
TEXT: Shubham Dasgupta
Photographs: Etihash Kotha Koy
42 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
ART SOUL LIFE
To the uninitiated, the traditional pattachitra
is no less than a form of post-modern art.
So when pata artists like Bapi Chitrakar
get ready to display their unique synergy
of music and art, people are too amazed to
react. The artist unfurls a scroll full of paintings and starts singing, drawing the entire
audience to follow the chain of events on the
scroll that is the subject of his song. Paintings are enjoyed while songs are relished,
both telling a single story. There isn’t much
you can do except remain rooted to your
spot appreciating every bit as the Patua,
or the artist, descends from the stage after
performance and starts selling similar scrolls
to inquisitive passers-by. It’s only then you
realise Pattachitra is a traditional folk art
form where the Patuas or Chitrakars sing
the stories as they unfurl the scrolls. The
name is derived from Sanskrit where ‘Patta’
and ‘Chitra’ means ‘painting made on a
piece of cloth’. A traditional art form of
Odisha where pattachitra ranges from 3ft to
145 ft scrolls, painters or Patuas travel from
village to village singing and painting their
scrolls. Pattachitras of Puri are unique and
known for their exquisite artistry. These are
different from the patuas of West Bengal,
miniature paintings of Rajasthan, folk
paintings of Madhubani and the narrative
paintings of Kalamkari. The paintings of
Puri are still linked to the Jagannath temple
and have ritual significance. History dates
back to Santhals, Hos, Mundas, Juangs and
Kherias, who were the earliest exponents of
Pattachitra. The art form comprises mainly
two categories: Santhal Pata that depicts a
series of stories; and Chauka Pata, which
is smaller in size and depicts a single theme
with one particular painting of a deity or
any mythological or social subject. Santhal
Patas have limited use of colour, while the
latter uses elaborate colours on thick, crude,
handmade paper. The themes of this art
form relate to social stigmas, environment,
mythology as well as international incidents
of vital concern. Patuas traditionally use
colours extracted from vegetables, fruits and
flowers. Red colour is extracted from Segun/
Teak; Jaffran and Blue colour from Aparija
flowers, White from Kusum Maati (white
mud), Green from runner beans and Yellow
from turmeric. The colours are extracted
from leaves and collected in pots of coconut
shells. Handmade paint brushes from goat
or squirrel hair are aligned with precision
around a wooden stick and tied with cotton
thread. Thanks to royal patronage and also
due to the teachings of Vaishnav scholars,
the tradition of pattachitra painting seems
to have got associated with the icons of
Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra in
the Jagannath Temple of Puri in the Ganga
period (circa AD 1110 to 1435). There are
the daily rituals at the temple for arousing
the deities for feeding and putting to bed at
night. Besides these, there are many periodic
and festive rituals to be observed on different auspicious days. The most important
of these festivals is the Ratha Yatra, where
chitrakars are welcome to display their art.
For at least 15 days of the year, the creations
of the chitrakars receive the some obeisance
and worship from the devotees. Besides
painting of the substitute icon, the other
important function of the chitrakar is to
decorate cars (rath) during the Yatra. In fact,
Chitrakar was one of the original 36 order,
which was introduced by King Anangbhim
Dev (1211 to 1238) in the Jagannath Temple.
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 43
ART SOUL LIFE
Niloy Basu, General Manager, Banglanatak.
com, who is working with traditional patta
artists, is pretty satisfied with how things are
turning out for the proponents of this dying
art form. “When we visited Naya village of
Midnapore, we were appalled by the deplorable condition of Pattachitra. Lack of marketing strategies paved way for lack of interest
in the people. Only 30 artists remained with
monotonous Pots (painted scrolls) with little
or no usage of songs. We then decided to
focus on skill building, capacity building and
market utilisation of Pattachitra,” he mentions. A Guru- Shishya Parampara was then
set up by representatives of the NGO for six
months that grew the quality of work of the
artists. Designers from the National institute
of Fashion Technology were involved in teaching the artists about colour and cloth. The
resultant revitalisation saw the artists increase
to an appreciating 320 in number. A sincere
effort to tap the knowledge of veterans like
Dukhushyam Chitrakar and Manu Chitrakar
led to increasing interest among aspirants. A
documentary was also made on the genius of
44 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
Dukhushyam Chitrakar, who still composes
songs and paints scrolls. “Pattachitra has undergone a sea change. Economic self-sufficiency has allowed artists to exhibit their talent in
France, UK, Germany and Japan,” Basu adds.
Pattachitra has diversified its products from
scroll paintings to fashion apparels and accessories apart from bags, greeting cards, folders,
curtains, cushion covers, runners, coasters
and a variety of décor items. The medium of
painting has also changed from handmade paper to cotton, silk, leather, glass, wrought iron,
terracotta and wood. The annual exhibition of
Pattachitra is a grand attraction in and around
West Bengal. The Pot Maya Heritage Festival
at Naya village, Pingla, West Midnapore, is
scheduled in November annually. The opening
up of online marketing has boosted sales so
much that Yakub Chitrakar sighs with relief
as he says, “Earlier, Naya was a village of beggars. Now tourists, researchers and customers visit the 80 families regularly.” Successful
marketing has helped Pattachitra to survive
the odds of time and gather international
exposure for ‘grounded’ artistry.
ART SOUL LIFE
FOR THE
OF GOD
Mounted on a grand scale, Forms of
Devotion is a travelling exhibition,
which is like a pilgrim’s progress in
rediscovering the majesty, meaning,
and mystery of sacred India.
Martin Gurvich of Museum of
Sacred Art would like to share the
concept with art lovers on similar
journeys to appreciate India’s rich
legacy
TEXT: TEAM ART SOUL LIFE
46 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
ART SOUL LIFE
Museum of Sacred Arts (MOSA) in Brussels
rom Kangra to Kalighat, from Thanjavur to
Mughal art, from Madras to Bengal and Baroda
schools, we must be the only country where
contemporary artists continue to create visual
representations of the divine in new and refreshing ways. Says Martin Gurvich, founding
director, Museum of Sacred Art (MOSA),
Brussels, “Indian culture has never been fully
separate from spirituality. Unlike the West, the
genre of spiritual art is alive and flourishing in
India.” Gurvich, a Hare Krishna devout who
prefers to be called by his religious name
Mahaprabhu Dasa, says Indians know how to
celebrate the presence of the divine even amidst
the mundane and the material. It is primarily this
belief that this gentleman with lofty ideals is
working on 24X7 and 365 days giving shape to
what he calls “Forms Of Devotion, a traveling
exhibition.” He says it will offer a magnificent
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 47
ART SOUL LIFE
Gurvich, seen here with curator Sushma
Bahl, unveils the ambitious Forms of
Devotion exhibition; MOSA interiors
(below) and art works at the museum
opportunity to revel in Indian culture
and highlight the artistic achievements of one of the world’s most
aesthetically accomplished regions.
“We’ve planned a spiritual festival of
performing arts, workshops and
lectures,” reveals Gurvich. “It’s a
huge project and we need both
blessings and funds to make it a
success.” Gurvich doesn’t mind
meeting Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, who is “a very positive person”
and anyone who’s willing to contribute to the cause. He says the holistic
project assumes a special significance
in today’s multicultural, but strife
ridden global context. While it
presents and promotes diverse Indian
artistic endevours from around the
country on an international platform,
it also supports non-violence and
spiritual upliftment for mutual trust
amongst people and societies. “Given
the inherent ability of the arts to bind
the mind and the spirit, the platform
is especially appropriate for the
‘other’ and the ‘self ’ to co-habit in
harmony with each other,” he says.
With its strong focus on the spiritual
and the devotional art, the project
engages with continuity and change
as reflected in various faiths, cultures
and ideologies across the country.
“The collection and the exhibition
features recent and original works of
48 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
ART SOUL LIFE
Indian art – the traditional, contemporary, folk and popular,”
he informs, adding, “The themes from socio-cultural-philosophical perspectives will be explored.” The exhibition, along
with a film, a book and spiritual arts festival is scheduled for a
grand launch in early 2015 at Indira Gandhi National Centre
for Art, New Delhi. It will then tour internationally for mega
showings in different galleries and museums in Americas,
Europe and the Far East. “It shall feature musical concerts of
Sufi, Bhakti, Gurbani and Christmas carols, dance performances and hands on art and yoga workshops to widen the
reach and help appreciation and understanding of devotional
and sacred art,” he informs. The programme will also include
lectures, live demonstrations, art film screenings, discussions,
gallery walks, digital outreach, performances and more, as
appropriate for each venue.” Clarifying that none of the works
are antiques, curator Sushma Bahl says, “The idea is to
promote Indian art globally. The show will cut across faiths
and cultures. We have raised various issues and have also gone
local.” For instance, Vivek Vilasani’s work Count Me Out,
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 49
ART SOUL LIFE
which shows a temple gopuram decorated
with people instead of deities, highlights the
issue of closing temple doors to people from
other faiths. Yusuf Arakkal’s painting Last
Supper shows Christ with chapattis instead
of the traditional bread. Adding a touch of
humour is a work called Sita-Ram Marriage
Bureau. On display at the exhibition will be
mixed media works Kali by Shantamani
Muddaiah and a meditative work made of
blunt iron scissors called Meditation by
fashion designer Rajesh Pratap Singh. “It
may seem that a large number of works are
on Hindu themes or that the artists are
mostly Hindus. But that’s only because the
majority in India is Hindu. We have
included works that depict other faiths too,”
says Gurvich. “The idea is to include works
of modern contemporary artists, who have
something nice to say in a beautiful way on
the theme of devotion.” The curation of
works has necessitated that Gurvich spends
days on end in India. “However, meeting
artists and finding good representative
pieces have been both challenging and
50 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
rewarding,” he says. “I can say for sure that
even today there are great artists completely
devoted to their spiritual tradition. Visiting
their simple studios and witnessing their
humility has served as a great inspiration to
us in creating this project, of presenting
Indian devotional art to the West.” As for
himself, Gurvich says India has greatly
influenced his life—born to Lithuanian
parents who immigrated to Uruguay, he
grew up in Montevideo and New York
where his artist father relocated. “My
parents were Jews and I was raised with an
open mind and an attitude of respect and
tolerance for all religions,” he says. As a
student in the US, he wanted to know more
about one of the world’s most ancient and
rich cultures. Gurvich says as a student in
the US, he got interested in the Hindu
philosophy. “But I didn’t know who to turn
to for answers to my questions.” And like
hundreds of foreigners, Gurvich, too, came
to India on a spiritual quest. “After I
finished my studies in Political Science from
Syracuse University, New York, I travelled
ART SOUL LIFE
Saraswati, Bronze, 78 X 62 X 32 cm
to Paris for vacations. There I bumped into
Hare Krishna devotees, who presented me
with a copy of Bhagvad Gita. I didn’t have
to pay anything for the book that changed
the course of my life,” he recalls. “I haven’t
looked back since that day.” He came to
India and lived here for several years at a
commune before settling in Belgium.
Gurvich says before he could lay his hands
on Gita, what struck him most was the lack
of knowledge about one of the world’s most
ancient and richest cultures. “So I decided to
study as much as I could about Indian art
and religion and have been trying to and
promote it in Belgium. But how did he think
of starting a museum? He says the idea was
to create a dedicated space where visitors
could experience and learn the cultural roots
of Vaishnava art and its connection to the
broader world of Hindu philosophy. His
personal inspiration in developing the
museum came from the experience of
growing up in an atmosphere permeated
with art. “My father, José Gurvich, was a
renowned modern artist and a student of
Joaquín Torres Garcia. This background
enabled me to see the similarities between
Indian and Western artists—the desire to
represent beauty and uplift the consciousness of human society.” The setting for the
Museum of Sacred Art could not be better: a
thriving spiritual community in a beautiful
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 51
ART SOUL LIFE
nineteenth-century château near the
historic town of Durbuy, in the
Belgian Ardennes. “The meeting of
old and new in this historic setting
creates a unique backdrop for
developing a love of devotional art,”
he says. “I have been exposed to art
right from childhood and over the
years I’ve realised that art helps you
tell your stories about your spiritual
quest. Care has been taken not to
purchase art, which goes beyond
being art. Some artists provoke for the
sake of provocation to shock people.
I’ve tried not to go beyond a point
where art becomes too commercial or
agitates others.” Gurvich says the
52 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
main focus of the museum at
Radhadesh, about 100 km from
Brussels, which opened in 2009, is on
living art forms rather than historical
pieces, even though it presents quite a
broad selection of devotional traditions from India. “There are some old
miniatures from Rajasthan, but most
of the pieces are from the 20th and
21st centuries,” he says. “The
collection focuses on works by Indian
artists and includes devotional
paintings by ISKCON artists. A few
works from Nepal, Tibet, Thailand
and Indonesia are also a part of it.”
From Nepal and Tibet there are some
exquisite metal icons, ceremonial
artifacts and sacred objects that
represent Hindu and Buddhist Newari
art. Two panels of leather cutouts
depicting Rama and Sita, represent
Thailand in the museum. The style
reflects the traditional depiction of
Rama and Sita in Ramakien, Thailand’s national epic, derived from the
Indian Ramayana, which remains
popular as performance drama even
today. The museum has also opened a
branch in Italy at Villa Vrindavan
near Florence where a magnificent
old Villa is being transformed to
house MOSA.
ART SOUL LIFE
THE POWER
& THE
Glory
Eminent painters, sculptors shape their imagination
into marvellous artworks to pay homage to Durga,
reports Shubham Dasgupta
he goddess exists in every corner of the
universe, as she resides in the hearts of her
devotees from all walks of life no matter
rich or poor. Every individual has his or her
own way of submission to the almighty that
reflects in their creativity, as was evident at
the Suladharini, an exhibition of paintings
and sculptures.
The exhibition presented by P. C. Chandra
Group in association with Pankaj Mullick
Music and Art Foundation and Sensorium,
celebrated the popular Mahishasuramardini
radio programme. Eminent artists and
sculptors shaped their imagination into
marvelous artworks at the Abanindranath
Tagore Art Gallery, The Indian Council for
Cultural Relations (ICCR), from September
15 to 22, 2014.
Participating painters included Late Shanu
Lahiri, Late Shyamal Dutta Ray, Rabin
Mondal, Ramananda Bandyopadhyay,
Jogen Chowdhury, Anjolie Ela Menon,
Shuvaprasanna, Biswapati Maiti, Debabrata
54 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
Chakraborty, Rini Dhumal, Arunima
Choudhury, Shipra Bhattacharya, Jayashree
Chakravarty, Arup Das, Ashoke Mullick,
Subrata Gangopadhyay, Sekhar Kar, Paresh
Maity, Samir Sarkar, Eleena Banik, Rajib
Gupta, Sukanta Das, Pradiptaa Chakraborty,
Soma Das, Anjan Modak and Samik De.
The sculptors who participated comprised
Uma Siddhanta, Shankar Ghosh, Asim
Basu, Tapas Sarkar, Somnath Chakraborty,
Debabrata De, Chandan Roy, Ram Kumar
Manna, Nabendu Sengupta, Subrata Biswas
(Pakhi), Subrata Paul, Banasri Khan, Chaitali
Chanda, Barun Pramanick, Subir Kumar
Mondal and Debasish Sarkar.
Curated by Sounak Chacraverti, the
exhibition had ‘Kali’ by Shanu Lahiri, an
acrylic painting on canvas. Anjolie Ela
Menon’s mixed media painting on board had
Rama written over a priest’s face and soul.
Subrata Gangopadhyay’s ‘Durga’ showed
a young woman worshipper during the
auspicious Bijaya Dashami, holding a blade
ART SOUL LIFE
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 55
ART SOUL LIFE
firmly, inclining towards women empowerment with
its dreamy strokes of colours. Pradiptaa Chakraborty’s
simplistic take on the Durga idol portrayed the
omniscient prevalence of justice.
The paintings on waterproof tin enamel plates by
Arunima Choudhury were a delight to watch, while
Sukanta Das’ painting on earthen plates was soothing
to the viewer with a calm picture of the underlying
rivalry of Mother Durga with Mahish. Paresh Maity’s
watercolour painting showing an idol of Goddess
Durga in the preparatory stage was commendable.
Shipra Bhattacharya blended Durga intricately with
Nature in her ink on paper painting, while Soma Das’
contemporary perspective of models sporting Durga
attires on the ramp entertained visitors.
Sculptures complemented the paintings perfectly. Subir
Kumar Mondal sculpted the bust of Mother Durga
on wood while Asim Basu’s ‘Ma’ enhanced majestic
motherhood with a lady holding a baby, protecting a
child hiding behind her. Nabendu Sengupta’s terracotta
sculpture and Debasish Sarkar’s bronze depiction
of Durga piercing her trident from the backdrop of
an ominous asura were a treat. The exhibition had
Chandan Roy’s brilliant bronze artwork of a Durga idol
being carried over on a boat while Uma Sidhhanta’s
weaponless Durga’s attacking posture held the
moment. Subrata Paul’s spectacular bronze sculpture
of the Goddess had a funnel shaped structure with
protuberances signifying the ten hands and the attire.
Apart from artworks, the exhibition displayed a rare
collection of photographs of the recording session of
the famous Mahishasuramardini radio programme
team that initiated the classic under the aegis of the
Indian Broadcasting Company in 1927. Besides, a
documentary film on the radio programme, directed
by Rajib Gupta, was screened regularly during the
exhibition.
56 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
ART SOUL LIFE
WHEN GOD
GOT A FACE...
Ketan Mehta’s Rang Rasiya opens up a fresh new
discourse giving iconic painter Raja Ravi Varma
a public presence, but his work and legacy is an
impressive reminder of the vitality of our arts
TEAM ART SOUL LIFE
A
s kids we never doubted pictures of Jesus Christ,
or even Guru Nanak, because history books made
them look oh-so believable. But frankly, looking at
Goddess Lakshmi, we wondered who saw her first to
draw her image! It was true for Saraswati, too, and
so many other images of the gods and goddesses of
Hindu mythology. We never once stopped to think
that those images had not existed until the artistic
genius of Raja Ravi Varma! It’s true that artists had depicted the deities in the
past, but they were usually caricatures rendered in simple lines and monotones.
It was Raja Ravi Verma, who had the vision and talent to render on canvas,
realistic, human-like images of the deities. He was also the first serious Indian
painter to use oil as his medium and to use live models to create some of the
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 59
ART SOUL LIFE
scenes in his pictures. For the
followers of Indian art as well as
students of art history, the name
Raja Ravi Varma (1848-1906)
has been familiar for more than
a century. Credited with bringing
about a momentous turn in the
country’s art scenario, Varma was
the first artist to cast our gods
and mythological characters in
natural earthy surroundings using a
European realism. In fact, another
departure from the norm (from
Indian painters) is his style; many
of his paintings are quite similar to
those of the western Masters. And
the quality rivals the best of them.
A Taurean born on April 29, 1848,
in Kilimanoor, a small hamlet in
the southern state of Kerala, Ravi
Varma belonged to a family of
60 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
scholars, poets and artists. Noted
in his family were, among others,
Vidwan Koil Tampuran, author of
the famous Kathakali work Ravana
Vijayam, Raja Raja Varma, who
painted after the Tanjore style, and
Uma Amba Bai Tampuratty, who,
composed Parvati Swayamvaram,
a work for the Tullal dance. As a
small boy, he filled the walls of his
home with pictures of animals,
acts and scenes from his daily life,
which though irked the domestics,
were noted by his uncle, Raja Raja
Varma as the signs of a blossoming
genius. The uncle, himself a
Tanjore artist, gave the first drawing
lessons to his nephew by making
indigenous paints for him from
leaves, flowers, tree bark and soil.
He was quick to learn, so his uncle
ART SOUL LIFE
took further interest in his training
and education with the help of the
ruling king, Ayilyam Thirunal. He
was only 14 when his uncle sent him
to Thiruvananthapuram where he
stayed at the Moodath Madam house
of the Kilimanoor Palace and was
taught water painting by the palace
painter Rama Swamy Naidu.
His first set of oil paints was brought
from Madras after Raja Raja Varma
noticed a newspaper advertisement.
Excited and nervous, Raja Ravi
Varma couldn’t wait to handle the
paints he had waited for a long
time. But he didn’t know how to
use the paints because the medium
was very new and the technique
equally elusive in those days. So it
became a big dilemma for the kid. It
may seem incongruous more than
a century after he started to paint,
but only one person in Travancore
knew the technique of oil painting
- Ramaswamy Naicker of Madura,
who, recognising a potential rival
in Varma, refused to teach him
the knowhow. Naicker’s student,
Arumugham Pillai would actually
sneak into Moodath Madam at the
Kilimanoor Palace at night to share
his knowledge with Varma, against
his teacher’s wishes. This clandestine
education was only supplemented
by watching a visiting Dutch portrait
artist who painted the portraits of
Ayilyam Thirunal and his wife.
Through trial, error and hard work,
Ravi Varma worked with the pliable
medium, learning to blend, smooth
and maneuver the flexibility that
was afforded by this slow drying
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 61
ART SOUL LIFE
substance. When Varma himself painted
the portraits of this royal couple, this
self-taught artist’s blazing talent far
outshone the Dutchman! Ravi Varma
had nothing to do with art schools at any
point of time. The Madras Art School was
founded in 1853 and the Calcutta School
in 1854, and for many years both of them
had taught only industrial crafts. When
painting, as high art as it was introduced
as an additional discipline, during the late
1870’s, Raja Ravi Varma was already an
accomplished painter. His creativity was
further tampered by listening to the music
of veterans, watching Kathakali, going
through the manuscripts preserved in
ancient families and listening to the artistic
interpretations of the epics. Ravi Varma’s
fame as a portrait artist soared with several
important portrait commissions from the
Indian aristocracy and British officials
62 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
between 1870 and 1878, and the sensitivity
and immense competence this artist still
remains unsurpassed. The small town of
Kilimanoor was compelled to open a post
office, as letters with requests for paintings
arrived from everywhere. The recognition
that Ravi Varma received in major
exhibitions abroad was for the portraitbased renditions, which were meticulous
compositions of people, their demeanor
and attires. His clever portrayal would
add elegance to the personality of the
protagonist, like unmasking the fragrance
of a flower.
These works finely blended the elements
of the early Tanjore custom of painting
Nayikas (the feminine emotions being the
central theme) and the graceful realism
of European masters. In 1873 he won
the First Prize at the Madras Painting
Exhibition and he became a world famous
ART SOUL LIFE
Indian painter after winning in
1873 Vienna Exhibition. His
success was so complete that during
his later years he wouldn’t enter
his works in competitions so that
other artists would have a chance
to win!Though not really qualified
for the title of a Raja, when an
imperial citation happened to come
across in the name of Raja Ravi
Varma, the name stuck and stayed.
Besides portraits, and portraitbased compositions, Varma now
embarked on honing an oeuvre
for theatrical compositions based
on Indian myths and legends. “
Nala Damayanti”, “ Shantanu and
Matsyagandha”, “ Shantanu and
Ganga”, “Radha and Madhava”,
“ Kamsa Maya”, “Shrikrishna and
Devaki”, “ Arjuna and Subhadra”,
“ Draupadi Vastraharan”, “
Harischandra and Taramati”,
“Vishwamitra and Menaka”, “
Seetaswayamvaram”, “ Young
Bharat and a Lion Cub”, “ The
Birth of Sri Krishna”, ‘ Keechaka
and Sairanthri’ took new forms
under his skillful brush. With oil
paints applied thickly, Ravi Varma
64 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
ART SOUL LIFE
created lustrous, impasted jewellery,
brocaded textures, and subtle shades
of complexions. Though several folk
and traditional art forms of India
since time immemorial subsisted as
illustrations for religious narratives,
yet, illusionist paintings as a medium
for story telling was Ravi Varma’s
invention. He cleverly picked the
particularly touching stories and
moments from the Sanskrit classics.
Though often considered as lacking
in overall congruity, by the sheer
mastery of painting beautiful areas
and expressions, his compositions
would enchant the beholder no end.
Ravi Varma was convinced that
mass reproduction of his paintings
would initiate millions of Indians
to real Art, and in 1894, he set up
an oleography press called the Ravi
Varma Pictures Depot. For photolitho transfers, the Pictures Depot
relied on Phalke’s Engraving &
Printing whose proprietor, Dhundiraj
Govind Phalke, became famous as
dadasaheb of Indian Cinema a few
years later. In 1894 and 1888, Ravi
Varma and his younger brother
C. Raja Raja Varma took a tour
around India, in search of images
and landscapes for inspiration. On
his return from the second tour,
Ravi Varma painted a batch of
pictures especially for reproduction
at his new press, the Picture Depot.
The aristocratic orientalism in his
imagery was now replaced by a little
more folkish, more iconic and more
marketable forms, and also seen
was a crises of gender identity of
contemporaneous European forms.
The Calendar-Art thus broughtforth by Ravi Varma has been the
origin of lakhs of gaudy god-pictures
by ultramodern litho presses for
decades. Raja Ravi Varma died
of diabetes on October 2, 1906,
in his Kilimanoor Palace home
overflowing with friends, relatives,
dignitaries and the media. Yet, the
rich heritage of the fragrance of his
paintings continues to charm and
influence the art of India.
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 65
ART SOUL LIFE
The business of art forgery gets smarter as
relatives, deputies and even first family of
artists jump into the fray for quick money
FAKERS, FAKES
& FAKE FAKERS
TEXT: TEAM ART SOUL LIFE
Art is no child’s play and to fake a
masterpiece and sell it needs the skill
of an ace salesperson. An auction in
Delhi a few months ago was marred
by allegations of fakes of Tagore, Husain and other masters. While allegations and counter-allegation flew thick
and fast, nobody could refute the fact
that India nurtured a shady multimillion-rupee market of fakes. “We have
been facing forgery for seven to eight
years. My father saw the fake of his
own work,” claims Balaka Bhattacharjee, daughter of late painter Bikash
Bhattacharjee. Citing the forgery of
Bikash’s works auctioned by Bid &
Hammer on June 27, she says, “Action
has been taken in this regard but this
cycle will go on until a regulatory
body with stringent laws is set up that
will investigate forgery in paintings.”
Remonstrating the idea of using
paintings as status symbols instead
of aesthetic fulfillment, popular
painter Shuvaprasanna says, “ The
fake Tagore paintings exhibited by
Government College of Art and Craft
66 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
in Kolkata to mark his 150th birth
anniversary used acrylic colour, which
didn’t exist in his times. Such sub-standard imitation is fuelled by unscrupulous dealers cashing in on cheap
labour of needy art college students
and ignorance regarding authenticity
in paintings.”
Speaking on the frequency of such cases of forgery, Bhattacharjee says such
incidents are not new to the art society
of Kolkata. However, the courage auction houses have to put fake art works
for sale is a surprise in itself. She
criticised the absence of law and order
that could protect the creativity of a
painter, besides, assuring security and
authenticity of her or his creations,
respectively. Although a lot of people
have protested against the Bid & Hammer auction, still it is not the end of
the road as she raised apprehensions
about other auctioning houses coming
up with forged lots in the near future.
“A family can’t succeed in this struggle
for authenticity until and unless a
committee with abundant knowledge
ART SOUL LIFE
about paintings and stringent laws can
have the power to certify the work of
a painter,” she says. Terming the issue
as unfortunate, Shuvaprasanna explains that owing to the brilliance and
talent of Bengal artistry in general,
the corrupt practice also has its roots
in Kolkata. He revealed that some influential people, having strong bonds
with major vertices of art society, also
involving prominent artists, recruit
underemployed Art college students
to paint fake works. “The situation
in the West is altogether different,
where increasing demand amongst
art enthusiasts compelled renowned
painters to recreate copies of their
original works, lawfully”, he says.
There, accurate documentation of a
painter’s creations including drawings,
paintings and letters prevented forgery
but that is not prevalent in India. That
is why, the number of Jamini Roy
fakes doing rounds of the market is
almost five times the number of paintings the painter originally created.”
Across continents, art forgeries have
become an organised trade. Usually,
fakes aren’t well-known copies of the
works of the masters. Instead, thesse
are compositions based on documented works whose whereabouts
are not known. Most of the suspects
are suitcase dealers, who chip in
fakes between the originals and are
able to pass off the replicas as real
art works to an uninitiated collector.
“Generally, a photographer is sent to
the gallery to take images of the real
work and submit the raw files to the
forger,” informs Pratibha Agarwal,
co-promoter, Art Life Gallery, Noida.
“Enlarged reproductions are then
printed on canvas and painted over
with the original signature intact.”
Agarwal says authentication certificates are then conjured with the help
of software like photoshop and viola!
You have a rare but fake masterpiece
ready to reap in some lakhs!
Since real art costs a bomb, so the
business of fakes is also getting
smarter. So, if MF Husain might be
among the most prolific Indian art-
ists, then so are his forgers. In fact,
SH Raza, FN Souza and Husain are
reportedly the most faked artists in
India. In the Bengal School, Jamini
Roy, Abanindranath, Rabindranath
and Gaganendranath Tagore, Hemendranath Mazumdar, Nandalal Bose
and Ramkinkar Baij have been copied
a thousand times.
If one may ask, why do fakes flourish? Then there are several reasons for
this. The most important being that
the art collectors, or the nouveau riche
will go to any length to show-off that
signature on canvas by a well-known
painter on their walls, even if it is a
fake or a print.
Secondly, art is still confined to the
elite and most of the buyers with deep
pockets may know about different
masters, but usually do not really
understand art and the nuances of
masterpieces. So, the art collectors are
ready to shell out crores for a supposedly priceless master but are quite
tight-fisted, when it comes to buying
a rising star. It is like knowing the
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 67
ART SOUL LIFE
Anjolie Ela Menon’s trusted assistant was arrested for producing her fakes,
while Husain is an all-time favourite of fakers.
price but not the value of an emerging
artist. Lastly, Indian art market lacks
the maturity and needs to develop
the checks and balances against the
malpractices replete in art industry.
We need something like the London
Metropolitan Police to tackle the sale
of fake paintings, tarnishing the country’s art regulatory system.
It is really surprising that while
the art market is still in the nascent
stage, the fakes market is mature and
well-oiled. Students and junior artists
are unwittingly or otherwise, made
to “copy” the masters. While some
struggling artists attempt forgery to
make a quick buck, others are duped
when asked to copy masters for
practice, which later find their way
to prominent galleries and auction
houses who mint money out of their
copies. A major obstacle is, it is deucedly hard to identify fakes—it requires
immense familiarity with an artist’s
style, the variations in style over his
career and the MINUTIAE of his life
and his social milieu. So, only family
members or scholars who have invested years in studying and analysing
an artists work can claim to have such
68 Nov 2014 - Jan 2015
an expertise. The problem deepens
by the fact that several Indian artists,
especially those who were working
in the early 20th century and whose
paintings command millions now, did
not maintain a record of their paintings or their buyers. The early works
of these artists changed hands for a
few hundred rupees. Husain is particularly a problem, as he was known
to have painted or sketched on scraps
of paper that he gifted to even casual
acquaintances. There’s little to prove
that these works that are now coming
up for sale are genuine. However, if
it is a living artist, art collectors can
appeal to the artist directly. Suvaprasanna has gone on record to say that
he once had a fake painting that was
by him, brought for authentication.
There have been a number of cases in
the last two decades where the artists
had to keep quiet on the circulation of
their fakes because they did not want
to let the world know that their work
is being faked, since it would cast
aspersions on the originals as well.
Galleries and collectors often get
fooled by the relatives of the artists.
Many a times, driven by greed and
family disputes on the estate of the
artists, close relatives of the artists
delve in faking the works FN Souza
himself was reported to have dissuaded his clients from buying works from
his own son. Mumbai-based DNA in
its edition of October 28, 2005, states:
Art buyer Nisha JamVwal told DNA,
“I contacted FN Souza when his son,
Patrick, offered 50 odd Souzas for
only `20,000 each. He wrote back
saying all of them were fake and done
by Patrick.” Jamini Roy is one of the
Indian artists who have been faked
by many, including relatives, acquaintances, students and unsuccessful
artists. In one of the recent incidents,
Dhoomimal Gallery in Delhi got into
a soup by displaying the faked works
of SH Raza, who interestingly was
present during the opening of the
show. The gallery had to scrap the
show as the artist himself identified
almost all the works as fake. Interestingly, once again all these works came
from the artist’s relative.
Those people, who have studied the
issue of faking art closely, say that
artists giving assistants access to their
works by often allowing them to
ART SOUL LIFE
GUARDING AGAINST FAKES
finish their works and thereby gaining knowledge to the modalities of
making, risk faking by the assistants.
In 2004 Hamid Safi, was arrested
for producing fakes of Anjolie Ela
Menon. Safi had assisted Menon for
20 years. Generally no artist would
promote his/her assistants as independent artists and the faking mafia
perhaps exploits their perpetual inferior status. Also, there are interesting
cases in which the assistant almost
copied the style of their master and
got established as independent artists.
Only this kind of artists could save
their faces from being called ‘fakers’.
The vigilant observers have proposed
ways to protect the art industry from
falling prey to the faking industry.
Primarily, it is proposed that all the
artists should have registered the provenance of their works with safe hands
and they should not promote any
chance of faking by authenticating
any work other than the ones done by
them. Galleries and other responsible
art professionals should be working
only with works that are authenticat-
• Buy only from a well-reputed gallery or auction house.
• Look out for signatures/little notes by the artist on the margins
or back of the painting. Check for inconsistencies.
• Read up on the artist, go to museums and exhibitions to
acquaint yourself with the artist’s style from a particular period,
his brushwork, the kind of subjects he was painting, the general
size of his paintings and his life story. Then check whether the
painting you have/want to buy fits in with the known narrative.
• Check on provenance – the history of an artwork’s ownership.
Insist on evidence of the artwork every change in owner, whether
letters, gift deeds or bills of sale from earlier owners.
• If you own a painting whose genuineness you are unsure of,
take it to the artist’s family or a trust/foundation sun by family/
friends for authentication. Art historians who specialise in the
artist/period will also tell you whether it’s fake or original.
• Forensic authentication, using digital technology or ‘craquelure’
– analysis of the cracks on the surface because of age – is a stateof-the-art way of detecting forgeries. But it’s expensive, and not
available in India.
ed by scholars and the artists themselves. Another proposal says that
there should be a centralised body
that would keep the provenance of
the works produced in the country in
proper documentation. Also it is proposed that those who indulge in faking works of art should be treated as
economic offenders and they should
be brought under the laws, which
deal with economic offences. A
parallel industry in reproduction art
flourishes with the help of hundreds
of copy artists - mostly young art
school graduates - who eke out a living by copying masters for the lower
end of the market. India, on an average, produces 5,000 art graduates
annually from various art schools,
who strive to make a place under the
sun. Difficult to estimate, the size
of the fake art market in India has
grown phenomenally to at least three
times the size of the original market
- estimated at over $400 million - in
the last decade, says art dealer, promoter and gallerist Narendra Jain.
“The phantom (unrealistic) prices of
top artists have led to the boom in
the fake art trade. Even people with
money often opt for fakes of leading
contemporary masters like Husain,
Souza and Raza to avoid rash investment in originals. For a lay viewer,
a fake Husain in the home of the
well-heeled collector appears real
because the owner has money,” Jain
told IANS.
Nov 2014 - Jan 2015 69