In its 11th edition, Manifestations at Delhi Art Gallery showcases more works by modernist masters. The exhibition helps one understand the development of modern Indian art and how the individual styles of some artists changed over time
It’s a cluttered room with people leisurely reading and puffing hookah. In between the fine lines that define the figures and objects in the picture, there are a few names scribbled. AN Tagore is one of the names. Executed in monochrome sepia tint, this ink drawing by painter Nandalal Bose presents five personalities with a self-portrait of the artist. While the other four figures are depicted in relatively relaxed, leisurely postures, Nandalal himself is the only active agent. He is the sole person who sits upright in the act of drawing with a brush, as Ananda Kentish Coomarasawamy, the art-historian and critic, intervenes by pointing with his left hand at the paper.
This popular picture by Bose is The Artists’ Studio at the Tagore family home in Jorasanko in Kolkata. The three Tagores depicted in the painting are not engaged in the act of painting. “This is one of the rare drawings by Bose and is a valuable part of Indian art. The drawing is a wonderful document that records the ambience of the creative space in the Tagore house,” says Kishore Singh, the curator of the exhibition Manifestations XI at Delhi Art Gallery. In its 11th edition, Manifestations, brings together 75 of India’s best-known modernist artists, covering a wide period and varied artistic styles of modernism in India. The artworks are grouped by genre into the categories of landscapes, still-life, mythology, figurative, narrative and abstract art.
The works displayed explain the journey of modern art in India. How the styles and patterns of the masters changed over time. One can see some works which are completely away from the kind of work the artists are known for. For example, Raja Ravi Varma’s oil painting of the landscape is very different from the portraits that he is famous for. “At first glance one might find it difficult to accept Oil Extractor as Varma’s work. Most of us know the artist for his brilliant work in portraits that features royalty, women and gods and goddesses, themes that appealed to the elite. He later catered to the masses in the form of his famous oleographs of mythologoical scenes from the epic. The rural life depicted in Oil Extractor is an exception,” says Singh.
The work depicts ghani or the traditional method of extracting oil from seeds where oilseeds are held in a scooped circular pit in the centre of a circular mortar made of stone or wood. A thick upright pounder descends from an angled piece of wood that permits the pounder to rotate in the circular hollow pit. The bottom of a lower angle piece is attached to a load-beam, one end of which is attached to the pit and the other yoked to one or more animals. The load beam is either weighed down by stones or by a seated man. Varma illustrates how a man sits on a beam and as the animals move in a circular motion, the pounder rotates, thus crushing the seeds and churning oil. In the painting, a young boy, who is perhaps the seated extractor’s son, is standing with his hands resting on the pit’s brim. Also seen are two women emerging from one of the corners. “Even though the work has been executed in the academic style that Varma was a master of, there is in its execution a certain bleakness which adds to its rustic appeal, enhanced further by the use of greys and browns. It is difficult to say where exactly the painting was made, what village it is,” says Singh.
The other such example is the painting by Ram Kumar. The colours portrayed in the painting are dark and dense. One can see burnt umber and deep chocolate brown filling up the frame and bordering the composition at its right and upper edges. likewise, Satish Gujral’s sculpture in brass, wood, glass and paper is a departure from his regular work. All these works play an important role for us to understand the development of modern art. Manifestations showcases selected iconic works from the well-established artists across regions and periods. Some belong to Santiniketan, others to the Bombay Presidency, Cholamandal, Delhi and Baroda.