Search results for: 'samuel bourne images of india'

Artists often proceed through a trial and error method—an incessant experimentation—leaving behind a singular trail of oeuvre composed of an irreconcilable, yet inseparable, set of works. Born in the small town of Sojitra in the Kheda district of Gujarat, Jeram Patel studied drawing and painting at Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay. In 1959, excellence in his work led him to pursue commercial design at Central School of Arts and Crafts, London, on a scholarship, and also travel to France and Japan. Thereafter, he successfully held solo exhibition at various places in India and abroad, and participated in international events such as the Tokyo Biennale and Sao Paulo Art Biennale (both in 1963).

Among all attempts by foreign artists to present a complete view of India, none is so focused on people as the work of François Baltazard Solvyns, who lived in Calcutta for a decade starting in 1791. While picking up odd jobs, he embarked on an ambitious project to produce a comprehensive survey of ‘the manners, customs, and dresses, of the Hindus’. The first edition contained 250 hand-coloured etchings and was published by Solvyns between 1796 and 1799.

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.

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

Often described as ‘Poetry in Stone’, the Taj Mahal was laid out between 1631-43 by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal. It is the architectural elements of the Taj complex that grab the most attention, but in fact the garden is the heart of the complex . The visitors today are so transfixed by the Taj itself that they remember very little of the garden. DAG Archive attempts to illustrate the  life and ‘afterlife’ of the Taj gardens, once its control was taken over by the British. This archive deep dive showcases the objects from A. E. P. Griessen’s (1875–1935) collection.

This is the first-ever retrospective of the Indian modern artist Avinash Chandra who lived most of his life in the West, in London and New York. The artist, who had trained in New Delhi, left soon after for London, and most of his practice was limited to London and New York, the two cities he called his home till his unfortunately early death in 1991. In the roughly three-and-a-half decades of his career, Avinash’s work changed amazingly, reflecting his environment and milieu as he grew and adapted to cities vastly different from their Indian counterparts, with their own sub-cultures. That this happily coincided with a discovery of India, however superfluously, as a land of spirituality and sexuality, seemed to serve him well as his muse.

For its debut in London, DAG created a booth-in-booth display space at the historical exhibition venue, Olympia London, that offered glimpses of the artworks from all around, thereby improving its visibility and attracting visitors. Its choice of art too reflected the best from its collection of the twentieth century modern masters of Indian art, who, in turn, had been influenced by movements and artists in the West. Several of these had worked, briefly or for the duration of their careers, in London and Europe. These included Avinash Chandra, F. N. Souza, Ram Kumar, S. H. Raza, Laxman Pai, Manjit Bawa,
S. K. Bakre, Sakti Burman and Sohan Qadri among others. The room within the booth was reserved solely for the paintings by F. N. Souza. Akbar Padamsee Ambadas Anjolie Ela Menon Avinash Chandra B. Prabha Bikash Bhattacharjee Dharamnarayan Dasgupta F. N. Souza G.R. Santosh George Keyt Himmat Shah J. Sultan Ali Jogen Chowdhury K. H. Ara K. K. Hebbar K. Laxma Goud Krishen Khanna Laxman Pai M. F. Husain Manjit Bawa N. S. Bendre P. T. Reddy Prodosh Das Gupta Rabin Mondal Ram Kumar S. H. Raza S. K. Bakre Sakti Burman Sohan Qadri Sunil Das

Colonization is perhaps best understood as a process that unfolded over time than as a single historical event. In India and South Asia it began with the East India Company acquiring rights over land in different parts of the country, with the occasional political victories won on the battlefields. Since the Battle of Plassey (1757), their power over legislative and judicial matters grew steadily, backed by a strong military presence. Following the First War of Independence in 1857, the British Crown brought most parts of the Indian subcontinent under its direct rule, continuing to hold power until 1947.

The DAG booth at India Art Fair has always aspired to provide its thousands of visitors with their most unique art-viewing experience based on rarity, historicity, and quality, raising the bar each year with works of sterling importance in addressing the art history of the subcontinent.  Abanindranath Tagore, Allah Bux, Anonymous (Early Bengal), Dhanraj Bhagat Jamini Roy, Krishen Khanna, Ram Kumar, M. A. R. Chughtai, M. F. Husain, Madhvi Parekh, Nandalal Bose, Nirode Mazumdar, Prabhakar Barwe, S. K. Bakre, Sailoz Mookherjea, Shanti Dave, Sohan Qadri, Thomas Daniell, Raja Ravi Varma, Edwin Lord Weeks, F. N. Souza, M. V. Dhurandhar

This exemplary themed exhibition at DAG’s booth at the India Art Fair 2018 was a masterclass in Indian art dedicated to the nine National Treasure artists. This declaration in the decade of the 1970s was intended to identify artists whose contribution had national significance. Even though the selection appears arbitrary and argumentative, the nine artists cannot be faulted for the quality of their work and the role they played in segueing the pre-independence freedom movement with their role and responsibility as artists. Nandalal Bose Sailoz Mookherjea Abanindranath Tagore Jamini Roy Amrita Sher-Gil Rabindranath Tagore Gagnendranath Tagore Nicholas Roerich Raja Ravi Varma

For the second year running at the India Art Fair, DAG built upon its theme with a second edition of ‘Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art’, on a scale as ambitious as the previous year. A portrait by Raja Ravi Varma was the highlight among the old masters, but a stunning painting by F. N. Souza—Man and Woman Laughing—stole the show. Once again, the lavish booth set new standards in terms of display, visitor experience, private lounges, and a souvenir and book store. Special lectures were organised at the booth, and a large number of walkthroughs were arranged for pre-booked groups. As in the previous edition, a large book was published on the displayed works, and a daily art newspaper was published for visitors to the fair. Avinash Chandra Nandalal Bose Chittaprosad F. N. Souza G. R. Santosh M. V. Dhurandhar J. Sultan Ali Jamini Roy K. H. Ara M. F. Husain Ram Kumar S. H. Raza Rabindranath Tagore