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DAG Museum’s annual festival ‘The City as a Museum’ attempts to explore the various archives, communities and artistic traditions that cohere around the life of a city. Put together, they tell different stories about the city across time and space, from the point of view of neighbourhoods, collections and institutions, but not just limited to those either.

In order to learn more about this unique programme that seeks to explore heritage outside the walls of a traditional gallery or museum, read on!

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.

Chittaprosad (1915 – 1978) was an artist of the people. A firm believer in the power of political art to bring tangible change in society, he is remembered for political cartoons and caricatures lampooning the ruling elite while championing the cause of the working class.

He was also a dedicated journalist working for the Communist Party of India (CPI) and was sent by the party to document the effects of the Great Bengal Famine of 1943 in Bengal’s villages and towns. He would come back with harrowing stories and sketches of hunger and death and publish them in the CPI’s journal People’s War, something that would prove to be extremely important in the face of British censorship on news about the famine.

Post-Independence, Chittaprosad distanced himself from the CPI due to ideological differences and moved to the outskirts of Bombay. He continued registering protest through his art but focussed increasingly on art for children. He setup a puppet studio, Khela-ghar and created beautiful retellings of epics and folk tales in print.

As in previous editions, ‘Iconic Masterpieces’ allows viewers to experience the pinnacles of Indian art through its lens of quality, historicity, and rarity—to which the element of surprise adds an unexpected piquancy. An ‘Iconic’ exhibition from DAG is like a museum tour where the best Indian art can be enjoyed through a lively and perceptive curatorial eye that acknowledges and helps extend our knowledge of it.

New York-based, Indian artist Natvar Bhavsar has been one of the most important painters of his generation. Influenced by the colour field artists of America in the 1960s, he became acquainted with them and took their language forward in his unique manner. A celebrated international artist, Bhavsar’s works have been widely collected by institutions and museums in America and the West.

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

The 2015 edition of the India Art fair saw DAG securing a lavish booth across two different spaces spread over 11,000 sq. ft. Likened to a museum (albeit a temporary one), the gallery presented a show of close to one thousand artworks that consisted of both paintings and sculptures. The thematically curated exhibition consisted of nine categories: pre-modern art, the Bengal school, academic realism, the Bombay Progressive artists, high modernism, the Baroda School and Group 1890, the Cholamandal artists, tantra and sculptures. This categorically-placed collection successfully attempted to showcase the dynamic range of Indian art over two hundred years. A special sculpture gallery was set up in a covered courtyard and featured the largest sculpture in India—by K. S. Radhakrishnan. Pre-Moderns Early Bengal Kalighat Pat Company School Popular Prints Birth of Modernism M. R. Achrekar Almelkar Radha Charan Bagchi Richard Barron Pestonji E. Bomanji Atul Bose Sakti Burman William Carpenter Jogen Chowdhury Devraj Dakoji Thomas Daniell John Deschamps M. V. Dhurandhar Indra Dugar J. P. Gangooly Olinto Ghilardi S. L. Haldankar K. K. Hebbar Benjamin Hudson D. C. Joglekar Prahlad C. Karmakar J. A. Lalkaka B. C. Law Hemendranath Mazumdar M. Mali H. Muller Ramaswamy Naidu M. K. Parandekar William Parker Prema Pathare V. B. Pathare M. F. Pithawalla Portraiture (Anonymous) Thomas Prinsep Abalall Rahiman ‘Ravi Varma School’ Kisory Roy Baburao Sadwelkar N. R. Sardesai Bireswar Sen Lalit Mohan Sen Sushil Chandra Sen S. G. Thakar Singh Satish Chandra Sinha L. N. Taskar Raja Ravi Varma Revivalism and Beyond Radha Charan Bagchi Bengal School (Anonymous) Nandalal Bose Ramendranath Chakravorty M. A. R. Chughtai Haren Das Sunayini Devi 438 Mukul Dey Surendranath Ganguly Asit Kumar Haldar Chintamoni Kar Kshitindranath Majumdar Indu Rakshit Prosanto Roy Bisnhupada Roychowdhury D. P. Roy Chowdhury Abanindranath Tagore Sarada Charan Ukil Ramgopal Vijaivargiya Jamini Roy Santiniketan: A New Expressionism Ramkinkar Baij Nandalal Bose Benode Behari Mukherjee The Bengal Famine in Art Gobardhan Ash Ramkinkar Baij Chittaprosad Somnath Hore Bengal Modernist Calcutta Group Gopal Ghose Hemanta Misra Prankrishna Pal Paritosh Sen Sunil Madhav Sen Calcutta Painters Nikhil Biswas Bijan Chowdhury Jogen Chowdhury Prokash Karmakar Rabin Mondal Society of Contemporary Artists Bikash Bhattacharjee Sunil Das Shyamal Dutta Ray Ganesh Haloi Ganesh Pyne Lalu Prasad Shaw Lone Stars: Other Bengal Modernists Amalnath Chakladhar Partha Pratim Deb Nemai Ghosh Somnath Hore Sudhir Ranjan Khastgir Sailoz Mookherjea Gaganendranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore Rise of Modernsim K. H. Ara S. K. Bakre Bal Chhabda H. A. Gade V. S. Gaitonde M. F. Husain Krishen Khanna Ram Kumar Tyeb Mehta Akbar Padamsee S. H. Raza Mohan Samant F. N. Souza A Modern Vernacular Baroda School N. S. Bendre Devraj Dakoji Shanti Dave Bhupen Khakhar Dhruva Mistry Haku Shah Nilima Sheikh K. G. Subramanyan Vivan Sundaram Group 1890 Ambadas Jyoti Bhatt Eric Bowen Jeram Patel Raghav Kaneria Himmat Shah Gulammohammed Sheikh J. Swaminathan Alternate Sensibilities Discourses in Feminism Arpana Caur Nalini Malani Navjot Gogi Saroj Pal Anupam Sud A Language of Minimalism Zarina Hashmi Nasreen Mohammedi The Topsy Turvy World of Magic Realism Amit Ambalal Sakti Burman Dharamnarayan Dasgupta Ranbir Singh Kaleka Sanat Kar P. Khemraj Anjolie Ela Menon New Delhi Modernists Amitava Manjit Bawa Rameshwar Broota Shobha Broota Bimal Dasgupta Biren De Manu Parekh Ved Nayar Ramachandran G. R. Santosh Arpita Singh Silpi Chakra Group Dhanraj Bhagat Avinash Chandra Satish Gujral Bishamber Khanna Devayani Krishna Kanwal Krishna K. S. Kulkarni C. Sanya Mumbai Modernists Altaf Prabhakar Barwe Chittaprosad K. K. Hebbar George Keyt Gieve Patel Prabha Raiba V. Nageshkar Jehangir Sabavala Laxman Shreshtha Region and Identity Cholamandal Artists’ Village J. Sultan Ali Reddappa Naidu Akkitham Narayanan K. C. S. Paniker K. Ramanujam M. Senathipathi S. G. Vasudev V. Viswanadhan Modernists of the South K. M. Adimoolam R. B. Bhaskaran S. Dhanapal P. V. Janakiram L. Munuswamy P. Santhanraj Laxman Pai K. Laxma Goud Badri Narayan G. Ravinder Reddy Krishna Reddy P. T. Reddy S. Krishnaswamy Srinivasulu Thota Vaikuntam Sacred and Sensual Neo-Tantra as a Modern Conceit Jyoti Bhatt Sunil Das Biren De K. V. Haridasan Jeram Patel Sohan Qadri P. T. Reddy G. R. Santosh Erotic Art Ramkinkar Baij Sunil Das K. Laxma Goud M. F. Husain Ranbir Singh Kaleka Prokash Karmakar K. S. Kulkarni Laxman Pai P. T. Reddy G. R. Santosh F. N. Souza Modernism in Indian Sculpture Ramkinkar Baij S. K. Bakre P. Roy Chowdhury Jogen Chowdhury Sankho Chaudhuri Prodosh Das Gupta M. Davierwala Jacob Epstein Tarak Garai Bipin Behari Goswami Satish Gujral Asit Kumar Haldar Dhruva Mistry Mrinalini Mukherjee S. Nandagopal Navjot Nagji Patel K. S. Radhakrishnan S. H. Raza Jamini Roy Himmat Shah Prabhas Sen B. Vithal Other Sculptors

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

Chittaprosad Bhattacharya (1913-1978) was a versatile artist and a lifelong adherent of the socialistic worldview. In 1943, he traveled across the famine-stricken villages of Bengal and produced realistic sketches of human suffering that were regularly published in the pages of the Communist Party journal 'People’s war'. These sketches were later compiled and published as a booklet under the title 'Hungry Bengal'. Fascinated by his artistic skills, the General Secretary of Communist Party of India, Puran Chand Joshi took Chittaprosad to the Party’s headquarters in Bombay (now Mumbai). 

The Delhi Durbars were a series of coronation events held by the British in India which formally declared the British monarch as the Emperor or Empress of India. They took place thrice—first, in 1887, acknowledging Queen Victoria as the Empress of India, followed by one in 1903, for King Edward VII, and finally in 1911 for King George V, which saw the monarch’s attendance in person.

Nemai Ghosh (1934-2020) is primarily remembered today as the photographer who, through his lens, composed a visual biography of Indian filmmaker, Satyajit Ray, for a period spanning close to three decades. This exhibition draws from DAG's extensive collection of Nemai Ghosh's ouevre to explore his work with Ray, while also exploring his contribution to documenting and immortalising the best of Indian cinema.