Shrikant A Chougule paints Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s life on a canvas. By Kritika Dua
Did you know that Chhatrapati Shivaji was a pioneer in infrastructural development and indigenous war techniques, abolished feudal systems, developed healthy trade and commerce, prioritised the navy as we have a maritime heritage and most importantly envisaged an independent IndiaIJ
The Maratha warrior king’s life is on display at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), through a series of 120 oil paintings made over a period of 14 years. That’s not all! The grand gala, from October 8 to 16, will have seminars about Shivaji, food festivals of authentic Maharashtrian cuisine and a showcase of Maharashtrian heritage.
The exhibition is mentored by author Babasaheb Purandare who has written several books on Shivaji and done a notable Marathi play on him – Jaanta Raja. Art aficionado Deepak Gore has curated the exhibition. Father-son duo Shrikant A Chougule and Gautam S Chougule are behind the exemplary oil paintings.
The paintings have captured the significant events of Shivaji’s life. Though all the paintings are arresting, the one with Chhatrapati Shivaji sitting on his throne in Raigad Fort during his coronation ceremony stands out.
Artist Chougule said, “I did not know the magnitude of the project. Had I known it earlier I would have maybe backed out, out of fear. However, Gore had a clear vision in his head. He knew exactly how to go about it and gave me the subjects on the Shivshahi era and old masters replicas. This project on Shivaji Maharaj was revealed to me and my son (who later joined me) four years ago. We were stunned to know that we have worked on a series and had created 70 paintings till then.” He said that the meeting with Babasaheb happened only last year. He appreciated our efforts, it was a great experience learning from him.
Creating these large paintings was not an easy task. Chougule recalls, “Gore would often take us to the forts, deep valleys just to visualise how it looked 400 years ago. This helped me greatly to do the sketches and create those moments. These sketches then underwent the scrutiny of Purandare and after getting his inputs, a small sample painting either in watercolour or oil paint was created. Only after we got a final nod from him, the small samples were created on a larger canvas.”
The sincerity of his father caught Gautam’s attention and he too came on board to help out his father in his mission and did the landscape work on the paintings. Chougule senior feels that his son added more details to his work and also at times advised him that some paintings needed more detailing which he then reworked. His son’s contribution to the paintings also increased his pace of work and encouraged him to keep at it. Together, the father-son duo brought to life the grandeur of Shivaji through the paintings.
Gautam is the third generation in the family pursuing art as his grandfather too was an artist. Shrikant was influenced by his father and he began painting at a young age of 10 beginning with sketches and oil painting. He pursued the dream to be an artist and joined an art programme at a prestigious college. He said, “I did diploma from J J School of Art. I got a teaching fellowship for one year, after completing the course. I tried my hands at textile designing at Calico Mills in Ahmedabad. In 1983, I got an opportunity to work in Japan with a renowned artist P S Naik.”
He got inclined towards realistic paintings and over a period of time gained expertise in it. Shrikant works a freelance artist in Mumbai at Windsor studio. The turning point in his life came when he got involved with creating oil paintings depicting the biography of Shivaji. Despite having worked on it for 14 years, Shrikanth hasn’t tired of the subject and has got so involved and impressed by Shivaji that he wants to continue working on it.
For Shivaji’s paintings, the artist has blended old techniques and styles, paid close attention to the colour scheme and noted down the way of dressing in Shivaji’s era in order to create the artwork. The artist said, “All the paintings are created with utmost detailing to make it look more realistic.”
He held his first group show at Jehangir art gallery in Mumbai. Coincidentally, his magnum opus – 120 oil paintings of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was also displayed at the same gallery for 15 days in June last year. It had an impressive footfall of over 8,000 people.
For him, the experience was memorable. “I was overwhelmed by the kind of response, appreciation and feedback received. I never thought it could turn into something so big. As the exhibition attracted the attention of many, some people complained to me that they were not able to look at paintings for long due to the large crowd. The paintings have tiny details that they wanted to savour for a while.”
Shrikanth got emotional while recalling an incident where an old man on wheelchair wanted to touch his feet as he was moved by his splendid artwork. “What more can an artist ask for! All he craves is adulation of people,” he said.
The hard work, persistence and dedication paid off with the grand success at the Mumbai Exhibition. The artist hopes to receive the same amount of appreciation from the Delhi audience and replicate the success.