An exhibition at Art Indus gallery displays works of Chittaprosad Bhattacharya, Haren Das and Somnath Hore on the Bengal famine. Samiksha Raj reports
You don’t make art, you find it,” Pablo Picasso had once remarked. The trio — Chittaprosad Bhattacharya, Haren Das and Somnath Hore — couldn’t agree more with Picasso as it was the state of Bengal where they found their mojo and forced the society to take cognizance of their uplifting themes in works of art. “All the three artists’ works share a common thread which is the Bengal famine period and the everyday life of the people there,” says Vijay laxmi, owner of gallery Art Indus, where the works of the three artists are being showcased in a group exhibition titled Print: Three Masters ( to continue till June 28).
Bhattacharya, India’s most recognised political artist of the mid-20th century, is known for his reformist concerns. His works depict life of poor peasants and the feudal system in Bengal. His preferred medium are watercolour, pen and ink sketches and printmaking — linocuts and woodcuts. One of his finest works is Hungry Bengal, a unique first-hand narrative of his journey through famine-gripped Midnapore which also features sketches depicting misery due to the natural calamity — carved faces, barren trees and lined rib-cages. One of its copies is now in the possession of Delhi Art Gallery. Das is known as one of the finest graphic artists of the country who worked almost exclusively in printmaking medium. He captured rural, pastoral Bengal — cobbled streets, buffaloes, women with pots on their heads are a reflection of his own childhood spent at the place. He excelled, particularly in woodcuts and wood engravings, in addition to linocuts, etchings and lithographs. Some of his best works include The Pigeon’s Home (woodcut), The Santhal Girl (wood engraving) and The Nuliahs in Puri Sea Beach (woodcut). His finesse in handling engraving tools to create fine details, perceptive treatment of light and usage of vignette make his works a sight to behold.
Recognised not only as an artist but also a social-activist, Hore is one of the pioneers of the 20th century Art Movement and a prominent printmaker (mainly lithograph and intaglio) and sculptor. The agonies of Bengal famine and wars and the anguished human form formed the crux of his artworks. He also has a printmaking technique, pulp-prints (made by using cement mould out of clay) to his name, which is his own innovation. It was used to create his popular art series, Wounds, which was inspired by what he witnessed during the famine period. Another of his popular work, Mother with Child — a large sculpture that paid homage to people’s struggle in Vietnam, was stolen soon after it was completed. It was the plight of the common man during the colonial period, that Bhattacharya, Das and Hore wanted the world to take notice of.
The gallery owner adds that the response to the group exhibition has been tremendous. The collection has rarity associated with it; especially artist Chittaprosad’s priceless works are hardly available today.
So, how are paintings selected for an exhibition and how does an art gallery preserve its prized possessionsIJ “If it’s a solo-event we go with the artist’s themes, otherwise we’ve also held events on themes such as mother and child. We try to skip having themes as it restricts the artists participation in the exhibition. There are different preservation techniques for different media. For instance, a watercolour painting cannot be displayed against very harsh light and has to be double-mounted,” explains laxmi.
A picture is worth a thousand words. “When you stand in front of a painting, it should bring out strong feelings and emotions. The emotions may be repulsive in nature but the painting should have that emotional connect with the viewer,” says laxmi. She also differentiates art and craft. “Craft is more about skill, art always has a concept to it,” she says.