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The showstoppers at the entrance of the DAG booth at the India Art Fair 2020 included a poignant painting of Draupadi’s saree being unfurled in the Kaurava court painted by M. V. Dhurandhar, alongside a work by an unknown artist in the style of the Early Bengal School—the oldest work on display. Together, they were a pointer to the masterpieces on display at the DAG booth, covering over roughly a century of art practice in India. DAG’s representation included some fine artworks such as a huge canvas by K. H. Ara, a ceramic sculpture by Mrinalini Mukherjee, a stunning canvas by Sohan Qadri, colourful abstract paintings by J. Swaminathan, Shanti Dave and G. R. Santosh, a masterful work by S. H. Raza, a lovely Jamini Roy, and paintings by M. F. Husain, Krishen Khanna, Paritosh Sen, J. Sultan Ali, Madhvi Parekh and others—each of unparalleled quality. J. SULTAN ALI BIKASH BHATTACHARJEE G. R. SANTOSH PARITOSH SEN EARLY BENGAL OIL K. C. S. PANIKER MADHVI PAREKH S. H. RAZA KRISHEN KHANNA SHANTI DAVE K. H. ARA PRABHAKAR BARWE M. V. DHURANDHAR M. F. HUSAIN HEMEN MAZUMDAR KSHITINDRANATH MAJUMDAR MRINALINI MUKHERJEE SOHAN QADRI JAMINI ROY J. SWAMINATHAN

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Spanning five decades of her painterly career, this retrospective includes iconic works by Madhvi Parekh which represent every phase of her illustrious career. The show also includes rare drawings and paintings from the 1960s, when the influence of Paul Klee’s abstraction on her early work was evident. Given the solid representation of Parekh’s paintings from every decade, the exhibition allows viewers to see the continuity in her vision and focus.

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Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury was born in Tajhat (in present day Bangladesh) in 15 June 15 1899. He learnt painting from Abanindranath Tagore, life drawing and portraiture from E. Boyess, and sculpting from Hiranmoy Roychoudhuri, with later training in Italy. Equally at ease with plaster and paint, he evolved his skills in bronze casting, and executed paintings that were an amalgam of the Chinese technique, the Japanese wash process, and his own scratching method, though his early paintings bore Tagore’s influence. Learn More

It is strange that Natvar Bhavsar, one of Indian art’s leading names, should never have been shown in India before. Having lived and worked in USA from 1962 onwards, it remains a mystery why his work has been seen in America but almost not at all in India. In spite of a few eminent collectors who have his work, Bhavsar has remained inexplicably ignored—an anomaly DAG is happy to correct with this seminal exhibition.

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He was the colossus of the Indian art world whose reign over twentieth-century modern art remains unparalleled. M. F. Husain (1913-2011) was the face of Indian modernism and owned it completely. Having started out as a painter of billboards in Bombay, he became its unchallenged monarch as a member of the influential Progressive Artists’ Group in 1947. He claimed the first National Award instituted by the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1955, and went on to become India’s most celebrated artist. In a practice that spanned over seventy years, Husain was playful, experimental, provocative, controversial—but never mediocre.

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The birth of Amrita Sher-Gil to an Indian father and Hungarian mother bequeathed to the nation one of its most incandescent artists. Known for her luminous paintings, her work changed the face of modern Indian art and paved the course it was to take in the country. In a rare sculpture of tigers made, poignantly enough, in the last year of her life, Amrita Sher-Gil is revealed as someone exploring new directions before her tragic demise in 1941.

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The Devi or the female power in Hindu mythology appears in various avatars in our everyday lives—as idols during the puja, on covers of magazines, product labels, calendars and posters. The modern history of visualising the Devi goes back to naturalistic depictions in oil paintings by the Early Bengal artists, which were surpassed in popularity and fame by Raja Ravi Varma and his studio. His representation, however, was regarded as too human-like by artists of the Bengal School in the early twentieth century, who created idealised forms based on a synthesis of classical visual traditions. In the twentieth century, we find artists responding to distinctive traits of the goddess to portray specific aspects of her power, or to convey the artist's own relationship with divinity. Few artists who have turned to Hindu myths have been able to escape the temptation to interpret the female power in their own way, and the diversity in style, medium, and mood is a testament to that.

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One of the most distinguished families in Bengal, the Tagores exercised unparalleled influence over the cultural landscape of the region. The Nobel Laureate, Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), and two of his nephews, Gaganendranath Tagore (1867-1938) and Abanindranath Tagore (1871 - 1951) were recognised as India’s National Art Treasure artists. Sunayani Devi (1875 -1962), their sister, is regarded as one of modern India’s first women painters known by name. Her lyrical paintings and embroideries often looked inward to an imagined world of fables and myths. At the turn of the twentieth century, we see Abanindranath emerging as the founder of the Bengal School as he envisioned a new Indian art that was free of colonial influence, rooted in pan-Asianism. Gaganendranath, on the other hand, was a prolific satirist and cartoonist, who imagined new forms and perspectives inspired by Cubism. Together they formed the influential Indian Society of Oriental Art in 1907, while Rabindranath’s school and university at Santiniketan would continue to shape modern art in Bengal for generations to come.

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A creative workshop for young people, from ages 12 to 14 years, interacting with the narratives depicted in history paintings, inspired by a special viewing of artworks from the museums’ vaults.

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March to Freedom re-interprets the well-known story of the Indian freedom struggle and anticolonial movement through works of art and some historic artefacts. Drawn from the collections of DAG, they range from eighteenth and nineteenth century European paintings and prints, to lesser known works by Indian artists that merit greater recognition, alongside some iconic pieces. Rather than following the usual chronological path, the story is structured around eight themes. Each represents one arena, or stage, on which the anti-colonial struggle took place, to expand the story beyond politics, politicians, and battles (which also feature). Conceived to commemorate and celebrate the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, this visual journey seeks to do more. For even as we remember the struggles, the sacrifices, and the stories, such anniversaries are also occasions for reflection, including upon the scholarship that has developed on South Asian history. Some of the latter may be familiar to academics, or those with special interests. For most of the rest of us, our knowledge of this past is derived in large part from hazy memories of school lessons, which change from one generation to the next, and are influenced by concurrent national politics. We also learn from narratives on offer through public channels or in the media, to mark moments of national remembrance or controversy.

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Shown at the Shanghai Biennale, exhibited in New York, widely admired for his consistency throughout his career, Rabin Mondal’s excoriating paintings are a savage indictment of social and political ills. A reticent, reserved artist, Mondal’s works offer a scathing commentary on the pursuit and abuse of power. A primal, primordial figuration describes his work in which people in positions of authority are rendered vulnerable because of the very power they aspire to. Their contorted features and clawed hands and feet represent their venality. Strong outlines, naked brushstrokes and potent use of green and red characterise most his work.

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For its fourth consecutive outing at Masterpiece London, DAG continued with the tradition of showing artists who had grown in appeal at the city’s truly cross-collecting ‘masterpiece’ fair, but with enough surprises to interest even the most fair-hardened visitor. From a large and vivid G. R. Santosh to a collection of small-sized Bireswar Sen watercolours, the selection was sensitively curated keeping in mind the cosmopolitan nature of London city and the visitors to the fair. Along with the Progressives, the exhibition included one of the finest sculptures created by Adi Davierwalla, remarkable paintings by Tyeb Mehta, Bikash Bhattacharjee, J. Sultan Ali, Avinash Chandra, and Hemen Mazumdar. As always, the emphasis in the booth lay in creating a rarefied visitor experience in which a handful of works allowed visitors to enjoy them at leisure without causing visual fatigue. The response was overwhelming. G. R. SANTOSH BIRESWAR SEN MADHVI PAREKH S. H. RAZA F. N. SOUZA TYEB MEHTA J. SULTAN ALI DHANRAJ BHAGAT BIKASH BHATTACHARJEE AVINASH CHANDRA SHANTI DAVE ADI DAVIERWALLA SATISH GUJRAL HEMEN MAZUMDAR SOHAN QADRI BIREN DE

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