Search results for: 'Exhibition of Thomas Daniell, William Daniell, Henry Salt, James Baillie Fraser paintings in India'

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The idea of primitivism centres on the wish to identify with, or respond to, elements of a society that are deemed ‘primitive’. In artistic terms, it is about rejecting realism, simplifying technique and reducing the formal means of expression to a ‘primitive’ state. The term itself is borrowed from discussions of Western art, where high-profile examples include the images of Tahiti and its people made in the 1890s by Paul Gauguin, and responses to African sculpture by Pablo Picasso in 1906-09. The second thread of primitivism—the reduction of formal means—is best exemplified by the ‘cut-outs’ made by Henri Matisse in the 1940s.

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This exhibition takes us on a journey into the lives and works of artists from a diverse range of traditions and practices. Despite differences in technique, philosophy and politics, they are united by an attempt to forge a new language of Indian art which rebels against existing visual vocabularies while seamlessly combining influences from European modernism and the rich history of visual arts from South Asia. This assimilation is achieved in different ways. From M. F. Husain’s figurative renditions of Indian deities to the many languages of abstraction developed by artists like Ram Kumar, Ganesh Haloi and others—we see artists responding variously to the socio-cultural problems of a post-colonial nation.

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Globally renowned filmmaker Satyajit Ray called his photographer Nemai Ghosh ‘Boswell with a camera, instead of a pen’. Just like James Boswell’s biography of English writer Samuel Johnson is considered the finest in the language, Ghosh’s photo-biography of his mentor is one of the finest photo essays on a legend’s life; Ghosh was Ray’s photographer from 1968 until Ray’s death in 1992. Learn More

That Anupam Sud is one of the most prominent printmakers in the country is a given, even though it would be unfair to limit so versatile an artist to only being a printmaker. Indeed, her body of work includes paintings, drawings, sculpture, bookmaking—and as you will see through the pages of the book accompanying the exhibition, a record-keeper observing the passage of time with self-portraits that she has undertaken to make periodically. A role-model for generations of artists and printmakers through her work and for her influence as a teacher at the prestigious College of Art, New Delhi, Anupam Sud’s name evokes recognition around the world where she has admirers, collectors of her work, and students who have trained under her.

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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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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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DAG’s debut at Art Basel Hong Kong aimed to provide an overview of the twentieth century Indian art, tracking key catalytic movements and introducing important masters and artists to an art audience unfamiliar with their work. This included the Progressives, of course, but also other modernists whose contribution to Indian art has been significant. The exhibition display at its large booth was aimed at maximising the number of paintings that could be displayed, including sculptures, and was accompanied by a catalogue. A. A. Raiba Akbar Padamsee Anjolie Ela Menon Avinash Chandra B. Prabha Bikash Bhattacharjee Biren De D. P. Roy Chowdhury F. N. Souza G. R. Santosh Ganesh Pyne Gogi Saroj Pal H. A. Gade Himmat Shah J. Sultan Ali Jogen Chowdhury K. H. Ara K. K. Hebbar K. Laxma Goud M. F. Husain P. T. Reddy Prodosh Das Gupta Prosanto Roy Ram Kumar S. Dhanapal S. H. Raza S. K. Bakre Sankho Chaudhuri Sohan Qadri Sunil Das

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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

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2020 marks a special year in mankind’s history and India’s destiny. Often used in reference to development goals, 2020 has taught us to never take things for granted. While humanity has made major leaps, even conquering outer space, nature has shown us how little we know about it, and how little we appreciate what we have. 2020 has taught us to review our values. We have suffered but also been comforted, and we have learned to acknowledge that irrespective of our joys and sorrows, our triumphs and our failures, the world will not stop, it will go on. Husain Rabin Mondal Santosh Jehangir Sabavala Mohan Samant Swaminathan Paramjit Paramjeet Ramgopal Vijaivargiya Seal Singh Dasgupta Haren Das Shanti Dave Jagadish Dhanapal Dhurandhar Bipin Behari Goswami Laxma Goud George Keyt Ara Nandalal Bose Jyoti Bhatt Natvar Bhavsar Eric Bowen Shobha Broota Avinash Chandra Sanat Chatterjee Shiavax Chavda Hebbar Khemraj Krishen Khanna Walter Langhammer Jeram Patel Aroomogam Pillay Raza Reddy Jamini Roy Vasudev Viswanadhan Manu Madhvi Parekh Laxman Pai Dhirendra Narayan Dharamanarayan.

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One of India’s most important artists, Chittaprosad recorded pivotal political and social movements in the country, such as the Great Bengal Famine of 1943-44 and its fallout, in heart-wrenching sketches and drawings, alongside protests against colonialism, economic exploitation, urban poverty and depravity, just as beautifully as the many drawings, linocuts and scraper board illustrations he made for children, recording a beatific phase of plenitude and family values, and involving himself with marionettes for their entertainment.

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