Transmutation into Green Gold

Self-taught Assamese artist Hemanta Misra arrived at surrealism after his initial tryst with academic realism, followed by a brief affair with cubism. Misra, whose strength lay in painting the outdoors, used both cubism and surrealism to turn ordinary landscapes into fantastical imaginings. In the work, Transmutation into Green Gold, a heap of distressed humanity is attempting to reach out to a shining future. However, the choice of colour hints that not all is right with the promised future; even the bell on the upper left is ominous as it remains unknown for whom does it toll.