Deconstructed Realms

Gallery Exhibition

Deconstructed Realms

India's Tryst with Cubism

New Delhi: 8th February 2025 – 5th April 2025
Venue: 22A Windsor Place, Janpath, New Delhi
Monday – Saturday, 11:00 am to 7:00 pm

Indian art in the twentieth century was shaped by a rich blend of influences—both Indigenous and Western—that culminated in a distinctive visual language developed by Indian modernists. In a post-war world, as artists began to engage with art from around the world, a dynamic exchange of ideas, influences, and movements took shape. Among the many currents that permeated the artistic consciousness of Indian modernists in the early twentieth century was Cubism, a revolutionary art movement originating in Europe. Though rooted in colonial histories and the appropriation of African artifacts, Cubism offered a visual language that transcended its European origins. Its splintered representation of form and combining multiple perspectives resonated with Indian philosophical views of time and space as cyclical and multi-dimensional.

The journey of Cubism in India began in the 1920s with Gaganendranath Tagore and some of the Bengal School artists, who first planted the seeds of this radical style, introducing fragmented and fractured forms that would challenge conventional artistic expression. This early engagement with Cubism set the stage for a broader exploration of modernism in India. In the decades following independence, Indian modernists began to fuse regional influences, such as tantra-inspired motifs, with the techniques of Cubism, reflecting the shifting identity of a newly independent nation. This assimilation positioned Indian art within the global dialogue of modern art while also reimagining and redefining its own cultural narrative.

As the movement progressed, Indian artists embraced an increasingly experimental language, moving away from the figurative and embracing abstract cubist compositions. Deconstructed Realms: India's Tryst with Cubism highlights this transformation, showcasing how modernists broke new ground, pushing boundaries and creating innovative artistic expressions that redefined the visual language of a nation in flux. It offers a glimpse into the brief yet profound encounter between India and Cubism, revealing its lasting impact on the evolution of modern Indian art.

Artists

Gaganendranath Tagore

Sanat Kar

“To be sure, Indian modernism and its embrace of Cubism critically tempered the pieties of tradition. Whether Cubism was cast as an artistic attitude or procedure, it emerged as a diversified, cultural expression that renovated the past to build a better future.”

– Kathleen L. Wyma