Search results for: 'Flower and Fire The Life and Art of'

The Story of Bengal Art presents a panoramic view of the evolution of visual arts in the region. The story of the first episode, presented by artist, academic, and curator, Dr. Paula Sengupta, begins in the late 18th century with the arrival of the first European traveling artists. The series was shot in the majestic galleries of DAG's Ghare Baire museum-exhibition at Kolkata's Currency Building. Learn More

Twenty years after India’s independence, Films Division, the government’s documentary and propaganda filmmaking body, was seeking to re-invent itself. It had the mandate of recording the nation’s history on film. It was also a project of moulding the citizen through films that were screened in cinema theatres, before the entertainment feature. The films covered varied subjects from development, self-reliance, social issues, to art and culture, making them an invaluable archive of the Indian state’s record of the nation’s history as a modern, progressive nation. The films remained largely unpopular, like homework, among the unwilling audience of people who waited for the entertainment film to follow the documentary. Learn More

To celebrate Independence Day a little differently, we worked with students of Indus Valley World School to create an exhibition using the artworks from the DAG collection.

Learn More

Learn More

Samuel Bourne (1834—1912) was a British photographer known for his prolific seven years' work in India, from 1863 to 1870. Landing first at Madras, then Calcutta, he travelled across the subcontinent—leading some of the earliest photographic trips to the Himalayas—and wrote about his first impressions of the places he visited.

Learn More

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.

Learn More

DAG’s second outing at Masterpiece London, the prestigious fair for everything from exceptional jewellery, furniture and antiquities to works of art held annually at Chelsea, was marked by outstanding inclusions of works by modern masters. The showstopper was a massive sized British Raj - Procession by M. F. Husain (one of two works, the other being his Theorem II) that grabbed everyone’s attention, but equally hypnotising were paintings by Natvar Bhavsar (Eketak), George Keyt (Two Women Amid Plants), F. N. Souza’s fabulous Temple Dancer, tantra-based paintings by G. R. Santosh, Prabhakar Barwe and a work in relief by Satish Gujral. Bikash Bhattacharjee Natvar Bhavsar Avinash Chandra K. K. Hebbar M. F. Husain Ranbir Singh Kaleka George Keyt Krishen Khanna Jehangir Sabavala G. R. Santosh F. N. Souza

Learn More

The Kalighat temple came up in Calcutta in 1809, drawing communities of traditional artisans who began to produce pats or paintings on religious and mythological themes, sold to the pilgrims as souvenirs. Traditionally painted on cloth accompanied by vocal renditions of the illustrated, these pats were now produced by the largely anonymous pat makers, or patuas, on paper—cheap and easily accessible—in response to urban needs. They remained popular till the early decades of the twentieth century. Learn More

One of the nine National Treasure artists of India, Russia-born Nicholas Roerich was not just a painter but a stage designer for ballets, an explorer, writer, and philosopher. As a painter, he is best remembered for his ethereal paintings of the mist-laden and wispy Himalayas, done mostly in tempera or oil. These paintings remain some of the best works celebrating the mighty mountain range. Learn More

Moti Zharotia was born in Delhi and remembers taking impressions of patterns carved on potatoes in childhood as his earliest artistic activity. He loved creating works of art but dreamt of becoming a lawyer, and therefore graduated in political science from Delhi University. Learn More

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

This collection of essays, co-edited by eminent scholars of art history, Tapati Guha-Thakurta and Vazira Zamindar, navigate the fraught religio-political contexts of South Asia to bring into relief the fragility and amorphous nature of a contested term like the ‘secular’.

Learn More