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In the articulation of twentieth century art, where does one place Altaf Mohamedi? That question has probably troubled more curators than we realise. Altaf, who studied art in London before returning to Bombay (now Mumbai) was following in the footsteps of his elder sister and artist Nasreen Mohamedi, but that is where all similarities ended. Where Nasreen was an abstract, sparse artist who created a distinctive language using, for most part, rigid, inflexible lines that nevertheless sang on the paper over which they were made, Altaf’s work was intensely political and social.

DAG’s booth at Art Basel Hong Kong at its second outing there consolidated its gains from the previous edition by building on the artists it had first presented at the seminal fair. It matched the fair’s focus of a vibrant Asian art with its premier selection of Indian modern art of the twentieth century. The selection presented twenty-five of the most significant Indian modern artists—consisting of painters and sculptors, figurative and abstract artists—who, with the innovations they brought to their art, contributed significantly to the rich diversity and expanse of Indian modern art as we know it today. Akbar Padamsee Ambadas Avinash Chandra B. Prabha Bikash Bhattacharjee Biren De F. N. Souza G. R. Santosh George Keyt Himmat Shah J. Sultan Ali K. H. Ara K. K. Hebbar K. Laxma Goud Krishen Khanna Laxman Pai M. F. Husain N. S. Bendre Rabin Mondal Ram Kumar S. H. Raza S. K. Bakre Sakti Burman Sohan Qadri Sunil Das

This exhibition looks at the diverse range, moods and styles that primitivism has taken in India, some artists practicing entirely in that style, while others experimenting with it in part, or sporadically. One can count simplicity and a move away from sophistication as key components, as also an inclination or at least a nod towards the folk. The exhibition does not attempt to be a comprehensive survey of India’s primitivists—there are others who would bear inclusion—but is an attempt to understand a body of work and how, given its Western countenance, it can be understood in the Indian context. More than anything else, it offers a clearer view than in the past of what primitivism might mean in the context of modern Indian art. Amrita Sher-Gil F. N. Souza George Keyt Himmat Shah J. Sultan Ali Jamini Roy Jogen Chowdhury K. G. Subramanyan K. S. Kulkarni M. F. Husain Madhvi Parekh Mohan Samant Rabin Mondal Rabindranath Tagore Ramkinkar Baij Sunayani Devi

Indian modernism is rich in diversity with a dizzying succession of artists who have each carved a niche for themselves in the rich firmament of art practice in the country. Open to influences from the West, reaching deep into the roots of their own culture, exploring and experimenting across mediums, absorbing ideas, reinterpreting established norms, Indian art defies any easily tailored silos to carve for itself a confident assertion of its own identity within a global context, while being a part of its larger assimilative journey.

Rabin Mondal is like a striding colossus of our times, scorching up the firmament with images that reflect societal malaise and his own inner turmoil. His determination to paint in a market-unfriendly manner is characteristic of his resolve. His canvases provide no safety net for the unwary viewer. Here is a confident artist aware of his self and his role with no fig leaf to offer those seeking beauty in art—not that his work is unbeautiful.

The exhibition, Indian Divine, begins with the late nineteenth century art on mythological and religious themes from regions as diverse as Bombay and Bengal—these include Western style oil paintings of deities by such well-known artists of the academic realist styles as Raja Ravi Varma and M. V. Dhurandhar, and mythological/ religious episodes and figures featured in the hybrid style, a mix of Western realistic painting and traditional Indian art and concerns—the Early Bengal style, a very popular form, of which the exhibition presents over fifty works. It goes on to document Kalighat paintings on religious and mythological themes from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that were very popular, as well popular bazaar prints on these themes that flooded the markets with the advent of lithography and mechanical printing. 19th-20th century Popular Print Art School Print A. A. Almelkar A. A. Raiba A. P. Bagchi Asit Haldar B. C. Law B. N. Jija Baburao Painter Bat-tala Print (Anonymous) Bikash Bhattacharjee Bipin Behari Goswami Bishnupada Roychowdhury Chittaprosad D. B. Onkar D. D. Burman D. N. Sharma Debabrata Chakraborty Devyani Krishna Dhanraj Bhagat Dhirendra Narayan Dhruva Mistry Dipen Bose Early Bengal Early Bengal (Anonymous) F. N. Souza G. R. Santosh Ganesh Pyne Gogi Saroj Pal Haren Das Heramba Kumar Ganguly Indu Rakshit J. Sultan Ali Jamini Roy K. C. Pyne K. K. Hebbar K. Laxma Goud K. S. Kulkarni Kalighat pat (Anonymous) Kalipada Ghoshal Kamal Chattopadhyay Kanwal Krishna Krishen Khanna Kshitindranath Majumdar Laxman Pai M. F. Husain M. V. Dhurandhar Madhvi Parekh Mukul Dey Nandalal Bose Nihar Ranjan Sengupta P. T. Reddy P. V. Janakiram R. Vijaivargiya Rabin Mondal Radha Charan Bagchi Raja Ravi Varma Ramananda Bandhopadhyay Ramendranath Chakravorty Ranada Charan Ukil Ravi Varma School (Anonymous) Reddappa Naidu Roopkrishna S. Dhanapal S. G. Vasudev Sanat Chatterjee Sanjay Bhattacharya Sarada Charan Ukil Shyamal Dutta Ray Sohan Qadri Sudhanshu Ghosh Sudhir Ranjan Khastagir Sunil Das Sunil Madhav Sen Surendranath Ganguly V. Nageshkar

We might think of landscape as the most obvious and natural subject for painting. What could be simpler than an artistic response to the world of nature? And yet, civilisations have not always produced landscape paintings. Landscape as an independent genre—with the primary focus not on action but on scenery—was first championed by the Chinese in the ninth century. It was introduced into English art only in the eighteenth century. Elements of nature have appeared in Indian art since the murals of Ajanta, but in supporting roles, in images that are primarily sacred or courtly. Pure landscape painting arose in India only in the nineteenth century, in response to colonial practice. A A ALMELKAR AVINASH CHANDRA BABURAO SADWELKAR BHUNATH MUKERJEE BIJAN CHOUDHARY BIRESWAR SEN CHITTAPROSAD DEVRAJ DAKOJI DEVYANI KRISHNA DHARAMANARAYAN DASGUPTA GANESH HALOI GOBARDHAN ASH HAREN DAS K. K. HEBBAR KANWAL KRISHNA KISORY ROY M. K. PARANDEKAR M. V. DHURANDHAR MANISHI DEY MUKUL DEY New Found Lands NIKHIL BISWAS PESTONJI E BOMANJI PRAN KISHAN PAUL RABIN MONDAL RAMENDRANATH CHAKRAVORTY RAMKINKAR BAIJ SAKTI BURMAN SUNIL DAS THOMAS DANIELL WILLIAM HODGES WILLIAM PARKER