Search results for: 'Masters Indian Art from the 19th and 20th Century'

Born in 1910 in Pabna, in present-day Bangladesh, Radha Charan Bagchi graduated from College of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta, in traditional Indian art, oil painting, and Western academism. Abanindranath Tagore, Mukul Dey and other Bengal masters were major influences but Bagchi evolved his own artistic style. In 1951, he joined Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan, as teacher, officiating twice as its principal in subsequent years. Learn More

In celebration of birds and the long relationship art has shared with the winged creatures, this exhibition brings together four folios to present portraits of Indian birds made in the early nineteenth century. While representations of birds date back to the Ajanta murals, naturalistic imagery reached its peak in Mughal art under Emperor Jahangir. In the late 18th century two connected developments emerged in Lucknow and Calcutta. While General Claude Martin provided imported European paper to the artists in Lucknow to prepare botanical studies and other natural history works, in Calcutta Mary, Lady Impey (wife of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in Bengal, Elijah Impey) had a menagerie where she employed artists to portray variety of animals and birds. Dr. William Roxburgh, superintendent of Calcutta Botanical Garden from 1793, also added to the discourse of natural history by appointing local artists to make botanical studies of the specimens in his charge. The efforts of Martin, Impey, Roxburgh and their artists gave rise to a large body of Company Paintings dedicated to natural history.

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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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Stepping up its efforts to familiarise viewers with the extensive range of Indian modern art, DAG occupied an extensive booth at the India Art Fair 2014, where over 300 paintings and sculptures were displayed, featuring about 125 artists. The specially designed booth was the centre of attraction at the fair and the most prominent destination for art lovers wanting to understand the development of Indian art from the point of its history, chronology, movements, periods, regions, or genres. It was an art history lesson brought to life and was thronged by visitors. Special talks were organised at the booth. A 332-page catalogue was specially published for the fair and remains a compendium of India’s greatest artists ever. A. A. Almelkar A. A. Raiba A. D. Tavaria A. M. Davierwalla Abalall Rahiman Abanindranath Tagore Akbar Padamsee Altaf Amalnath Chakladhar Ambadas Amitava Aroomoogam Pillay Arpana Caur Avinash Chandra B. C. Law B. Prabha Badri Nath Arya Bal Chhabda Benjamin Hudson Benode Behari Mukherjee Bhupen Khakkar Bijan Choudhary Bikash Bhattacharjee Bimal Dasgupta Bipin Behari Goswami Biren De Bireswar Sen Chintamoni Kar Chittaprosad D. P. Roy Chowdhury Dhanraj Bhagat Dharamanarayan Dasgupta Early Bengal Oil (Anonymous) F. N. Souza G. R. Santosh Gaganendranath Tagore Ganesh Haloi Ganesh Pyne George Keyt Gieve Patel Gogi Saroj Pal Gopal Ghose H. A. Gade Haren Das Hemanta Misra Hemendranath Majumdar Henry Singleton Himmat Shah Indra Dugar J. Sultan Ali J. Swaminthan Jacob Epstein Jamini Roy Jeram Patel Jogen Chowdhury Jyoti Bhatt K. C. S. Panicker K. G. Subramanyan K. H. Ara K. K. Hebbar K. Laxma Goud K. S. Kulkarni Kalighat Pat Kanwal Krishna Khagen Roy Kisory Roy Krishen Khanna Kshitindranath Majumdar L. Munuswamy L. N. Taskar L. P. Shaw Laxman Pai M. A. R. Chughtai M. F. Husain M. F. Pithawalla M. V. Dhurandhar Manjit Bawa Manu Parekh Meera Mukherjee Mohan Samant N. R. Sardesai N. S. Bendre Nandalal Bose Nemai Ghosh Nikhil Biswas P. Chander Sheker P. Khemraj P. T. Reddy P. V. Janakiram Paritosh Sen Pestonji E. Bomanji Portrait (Anonymous) Prabhakar Barwe Prodosh Das Gupta Prokash Karmakar Prosanto Roy R. Vijaivargiya Rabin Mondal Rabindranath Tagore Radha Charan Bagchi Raghav Kaneria Raja Ravi Varma Ram Kumar Ramendranath Chakravorty Rameshwar Broota Ramkinkar Baij Ravi Varma School (Anonymous) S. Dhanapal S. G. Thakur Singh S. H. Raza S. L. Haldankar S.K. Bakre Sailoz Mukherjea Sankho Choudhuri Satish Gujral Shiavax Chavda Shyamal Dutta Ray Sohan Qadri Somnath Hore Suhas Roy Sunil Das Sunil Madhav Sen Thomas Daniell Tyeb Mehta V. Nageshkar V. S. Gaitonde Ved Nayar

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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.

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It is ironical that works by Tyeb Mehta, who did not attach much merit to the financial value of art, were the first by a living Indian artist to sell for more than Rs 1 crore, and, soon, for more than a million dollars, indicating a beginning of interest in Indian art in the international market. His works Celebration, Kali and Mahishasura marked the beginning of the boom in the Indian art market at the start of this century. Learn More

As printing technologies improved around the turn of the 18th century, a large number of cheaply reproduced printed pictures—illustrated books, almanacs and mythological images—became available to the common people. This became an important vehicle of social change because people could own, produce and disseminate images of all kinds—from their beloved deities and favourite fictional characters to political cartoons critiquing colonial authorities. Printmaking was equally treasured by artists for its aesthetic potential, as techniques like lithography, etching, metal engraving, viscosity, gave practitioners infinite opportunities for creative exploration. This landmark exhibition gives us a comprehensive overview of the history of the printed picture in India.

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The Madras Art Movement that emerged in the early 1960s was a late phenomenon of modernity in south India within the national context. It developed as a regional phenomenon that began to take shape from the mid-1950s onwards as a search for authenticity in modernism derived largely from the region’s cultural heritage. D. P. ROY CHOWDHURY A P SANTHANARAJ ACHUTHAN KUDALLUR AKKITHAM NARAYANAN ALPHONSO DOSS C DOUGLAS C J ANTHONY DOSS J. SULTAN ALI K C S PANIKER K M ADIMOOLAM K RAMANUJAM K SREENIVASULU K V HARIDASAN L MUNUSWAMY M SENATHIPATI M SURYAMOORTHY P GOPINATH P PERUMAL P S NANDHAN PANEER SELVAM R B BHASKARAN REDDEPPA NAIDU Rm. PALANIAPPAN S G VASUDEV S. DHANAPAL S. NANDAGOPAL V. VISWANADHAN VIDYASHANKAR STHAPATI

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Prabhakar Barwe (1936-95) could well have ended up a theoretician whose book 'Kora Canvas' (Blank Canvas) was a manifesto that established the multi-dimensional relationship between an artist, the object on which he paints, and his subjects. That he was not just an intellectual scholar but an artist whose work speaks for him, is evident through a range of works in which Barwe dissects our understanding of the world and how we view it. Taking commonplace objects and our perception of their existence in the space they occupy, he shifts the dialogue to a point of discomfiture that makes us question our understanding of them. Using scale, discordant juxtapositions, and displacements, he reimagines the everyday in a manner that is thought-provoking, even provocative, as alternate realities—whether perceived or imagined.

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DAG invited leading historians of Delhi, Swapna Liddle and Rana Safvi, to explore our archives collection. The items they found there include numerous photographs of the three durbars, taken by prominent photographers of the day. They also include many other objects relating to the durbars, from portraits and medals, to maps and official guidebooks, and to tickets and programmes. Historians in the past have analysed the ideology of the Delhi durbars, but never before has such a collection of the material culture of these events been brought together for display.

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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

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