| Story Text | [{"record_id":"0","storytext":"Prahlad Chandra Karmakar (1900-1946) was a classically trained studio artist from Calcutta (now Kolkata), best known for his oil paintings that exemplified the rich academic tradition of art in Bengal. His work sought to introduce different subjects to oil painting, besides portraiture, and the choice of a rural setting in this work is significant for the turn it anticipates among many Bengal modernists who would regularly employ folk idioms in their art from the 1940s onwards. He taught at the Government College of Art and Craft, Kolkata, and has often been compared to the Dutch masters for his attention to light and detail. ","storytextauthor":"Shatadeep Maitra","initialize":"true"},{"record_id":"1","storytext":"Karmakar was among the first Bengali artists who utilised the tenets of western naturalistic art production to create images reflecting the Bengali people, landscape and culture","storytextauthor":"","initialize":"true"},{"record_id":"2","storytext":"This painting describes a Kali Puja scene in a village, possibly in rural Bengal. Since prayers for the goddess begin at night, the painting shows a nocturnal gathering of villagers in front of the deity\u2019s idol, as they sit around in devotion and worship","storytextauthor":"","initialize":"true"},{"record_id":"3","storytext":"The makeshift pandal<\/I> has been lit up by electrical lights, possibly brought in specially for the occasion\u2014casting lengthy shadows of the devotees behind them. The image is a quintessential depiction of festivities in rural Bengal of the time","storytextauthor":"","initialize":"true"},{"record_id":"4","storytext":"The iteration of the deity being worshipped is the Dakshinakali\u2014also the deity residing within Kolkata\u2019s iconic Kalighat temple\u2014who is presented in her four-armed, black-skinned avatar, with ruddy palms and a protruding tongue","storytextauthor":"","initialize":"true"},{"record_id":"5","storytext":"Prominent in the flat, linear depiction of Kali is her radiating, golden halo","storytextauthor":"","initialize":"true"},{"record_id":"6","storytext":"While Kali is typically viewed as a fearful icon of worship, the Dakshinakali iconography was developed in Bengal as a benevolent deity akin to a mother-figure, who extends her right hands in the Abhaya<\/I> and Varada<\/I> mudras of reassurance and blessing. ","storytextauthor":"","initialize":"true"},{"record_id":"7","storytext":"The 1930s in Bengal witnessed peasant movements against excessive rent payments and in 1938, the Bengal Tenancy (Amendment) act was introduced allowing the ryot<\/I> (peasant) to transfer his occupancy holdings. The irresolution of ownership and tenancy rights were to fester and lead to the Tebhaga uprising of 1943. The mood of community worship and solidarity in 1930s Bengal is reflected in Karmakar\u2019s work","storytextauthor":"","initialize":"true"},{"record_id":"8","storytext":"Karmakar himself had beginnings in craft-works. His father was a blacksmith, and at an early age the artist was apprenticed to a goldsmith. Quite quickly, he garnered fame as a jewellery designer, catching the eye of the Muktagacha zamindar who sponsored his study at the Calcutta\u2019s Government Art School","storytextauthor":"","initialize":"true"},{"record_id":"9","storytext":"One of his paintings was exhibited at the 1939 San Franciso International exhibition where he received the silver plaque. In 1943, he won the bronze medal at the San Franciso Biennale, while Henri Matisse won the gold","storytextauthor":"","initialize":"true"},{"record_id":"10","storytext":"Most of his works remain scattered in private collections, while some were reproduced in colour in the literary magazines Prabashi<\/I>, Bharatbarsha<\/I>, Silpi<\/I> and Lalita<\/I>. Though he also painted portraits, Karmakar was better known for his night scenes, such as Kali Puja<\/I> and Muharram<\/I>","storytextauthor":"","initialize":"true"}] |
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| Art Artist Names Single | Prahlad Chandra Karmakar |
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