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At the turn of the twentieth century, Abanindranath Tagore asked himself if the emerging artists of modern India should continue to paint in the manner of their European colonizers; or was there a new path waiting to be forged? His answers led him to envision a pan-Asian cultural identity, spanning traditions from Persia to Japan, and culminating in a ‘new “Indian” art.’ Regarded as the founder of the Bengal School, Abanindranath left an unparalleled legacy both in terms of his own diverse body of work, and through his pupils, like Nandalal Bose, who shaped the contours of art across the subcontinent in the twentieth century.

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How did the multiple trajectories of visual arts develop in the subcontinent? Where did they originate and how did their paths converge? Drishyakala offers a sweeping journey into the heterogenous histories of visual arts in India, from the first European travelling artists who drew landscapes to popular prints of the earliest woodcuts and lithographs evolving into the thriving advertising visuals of the 20th century. The exhibition is broadly divided into four categories, each exploring an unique area of development—the art of portraiture through photography and painting, oriental sceneries drawn by European travelling artists, popular prints from the late eighteenth century to post-independence and artworks of the nine National Treasure Artists. Together, these sections give brief glimpses into the dizzying variety of forms, styles and languages of South Asian art.

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This exhibition takes us on a journey into the lives and works of artists from a diverse range of traditions and practices. Despite differences in technique, philosophy and politics, they are united by an attempt to forge a new language of Indian art which rebels against existing visual vocabularies while seamlessly combining influences from European modernism and the rich history of visual arts from South Asia. This assimilation is achieved in different ways. From M. F. Husain’s figurative renditions of Indian deities to the many languages of abstraction developed by artists like Ram Kumar, Ganesh Haloi and others—we see artists responding variously to the socio-cultural problems of a post-colonial nation.

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India Art Fair is South Asia’s largest platform for showcasing the best of modern and contemporary art from around the world, and DAG’s booth is the most looked forward to by connoisseurs of Indian art in India and overseas. They were not disappointed at this iteration of the fair where its lavish booth was set up to resemble public rooms in a large mansion with teak-panelled walls, pillars, portrait galleries, a private lounge, a media room for interviewing artists and important visitors that was streamed live, and special provisions for curated walks. It also published a daily art newspaper for the duration of the fair for distribution to all visitors. A large book accompanied the display at the booth. K. K. HEBBAR RABIN MONDAL HIMMAT SHAH SAILOZ MOOKHERJEA J. SULTAN ALI AMBADAS K. H. ARA RAMKINKAR BAIJ S. K. BAKRE PRABHAKAR BARWE DHANRAJ BHAGAT BIKASH BHATTACHARJEE NIKHIL BISWAS PESTONJI E BOMANJI NANDALAL BOSE AVINASH CHANDRA CHITTAPROSAD D. P. ROY CHOWDHURY SHANTI DAVE ADI DAVIERWALLA BIREN DE G. R. SANTOSH PARITOSH SEN HENRY SINGLETON M. F. HUSAIN FN SOUZA KALIGHAT J. SWAMINATHAN RABINDRANATH TAGORE L. N. TASKAR KRISHEN KHANNA RAMGOPAL VIJAIVARGIYA RAM KUMAR JEHANGIR SABAVALA HIMMAT SHAH EARLY BENGAL OIL H. A. GADE MOHAN SAMANT S H RAZA JAMINI ROY GEORGE KEYT B PRABHA PROKASH KARMAKAR K LAXMA GOUD RANBIR KALEKA P. KHEMRAJ DEVYANI KRISHNA VED NAYAR K C S PANIKER GIEVE PATEL PORTRAIT A. RAMACHANDRAN PROSANTO ROY V. VISWANADHAN RAM KUMAR RAVINDER REDDY

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The exhibition features several works of academic realist portraiture from early 20th century—vivid oil portraits by masters of the form such as Pestonji Bomanji, M. F. Pithawalla, Baburao Painter and L. N. Taskar as well as charcoal sketches by M. V. Dhurandhar, an academic artist of renown of the same period. The selection features Western academic oil-influenced works on mythological themes by the school referred to as Early Bengal and two works painted in a Raja Ravi Varma-derived style—an anonymous work by the Ravi Varma ‘School’ and Aroomoogam Pillay. A. A. Almelkar Abalall Rahiman Abani Sen Akbar Padamsee Ambadas Anonymous (EarlyBengal) Anonymous (Portraiture ) Anupam Sud Aroomoogam Pillay Avinash Chandra Baburao Painter Badri Narayan Bijan Choudhary Bikash Bhattacharjee Biren De Chintamoni Kar Chittaprosad D. P. Roy Chowdhury Devyani Krishna Dharamnarayan Dasgupta F. N. Souza G. R. Santosh G. Ravinder Reddy Ganesh Haloi Gogi Saroj Pal Gopal Ghose H. A. Gade Himmat Shah J. Sultan Ali J. Swaminathan Jamini Roy Jeram Patel Jogen Chowdhury Jyoti Bhatt K. H. Ara K. K. Hebbar K. Laxma Goud K. S. Kulkarni K. V. Haridasan Kshitindranath Majumdar L. Munuswamy L. N. Taskar Laxman Pai M. F. Husain M. F. Pithawalla M. V. Dhurandhar Madhvi Parekh Mukul Dey N. S. Bendre Nandalal Bose Nasreen Mohammedi Nicholas Roerich Nikhil Biswas P. Khemraj P. T. Reddy Paritosh Sen Pestonji E. Bomanji Prosanto Roy Rabin Mondal Ram Kumar Ramkinkar Baij Ravi Varma ‘School’ S. H. Raza S. K. Bakre Sadequain Sailoz Mukherjea Shanti Dave Shyamal Dutta Ray Sohan Qadri Sudhir Patwardhan Sunil Das Sunil Madhav Sen Tarak Garai Ved Nayar Walter Langhammer

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Sohan Qadri was born in a wealthy farming family in Punjab’s Chachoki village on 2 November 1932. When he was seven, he came across two spiritualists living on the family farm—Bikham Giri, a Bengali Tantric-Vajrayan Yogi, and Ahmed Ali Shah Qadri, a Sufi. Both gurus had a tremendous impact on young Qadri and taught him spiritual ideals through meditation, dance, and music. His association with them heralded a lifelong commitment to spirituality and art. Learn More

When the Met-Breuer opened in New York, its very first exhibition was a retrospective of Nasreen Mohamedi. Nasreen’s work is regarded as extremely important in the context of abstraction with delicate lines marking her compositions with a strength that is as remarkable as it is astounding, altering the way we see the world. The artist preferred drawing and sometimes photography, as a result her canvases are extremely rare to find. Sasha Altaf tells us more in this film about a canvas painted by her in Bahrain in 1969.

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Artists have often formulated their theories and observations to analyse and become aware of the cognitive modes of art making, and to associate with broader contemporaneous art movements. These manifestos become a window into an artist’s process. Prabhakar Barwe’s seminal treatise, <i>Kora Canvas</I> (The Blank Canvas, 1989), exemplifies his deep understanding of the fundamental elements of art and keen observations of nature and his surroundings.

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England shaped Altaf’s political consciousness as well as his persona. He engaged in the anti-apartheid demonstration at Trafalgar Square held against the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela; a peaceful protest at the American Embassy opposing the bombing in North Vietnam; the Aldermaston March against the nuclear bomb; the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament; he became a member of the Youth Wing of the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and the Young Communist League (YCL). Any examination of the theoretical aspect of Altaf’s work must start with the knowledge that the work in question exemplified an element of ‘existentialist’ thought. 

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One of the most important ways in which a work of art is authenticated is by checking its provenance. What does provenance mean and how does it affect the identity of an artwork itself? The concept has evolved historically over the years; below, we try to highlight some of the important aspects of this debate in our recurring series, Argot, that seeks to demystify some of the major ideas from the world of art.

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An exploration of the instrument by tabla artists, Asif Khan and Rohen Bose, followed by a concert where they are joined by Alla Rakha Kalawant on the sarangi at the Jorasanko Thakur Dalan. 

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Recognised for her contributions to the growth of printmaking in India, Anupam Sud is considered one of the most significant artists of India. Her works depict strong anatomical beings that can be traced back to her father’s love for bodybuilding. She attributes her influences to theatre, classical music, and detective stories, and artistic growth to renowned artist Somnath Hore, with whom she formed a close association. Learn More