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Gaitonde & Mohamedi at Bhulabhai Desai

Artists don’t exist in a vacuum. The feature looks at the works of two Indian artists who occupy a special niche in the art world. This feature looks at VS Gaitonde and Nasreen Mohamedi through different prisms.

Somnath Hore - Important Prints & Other Works

Somnath Hore's pictorial language in his sketches, sculptures, and prints is more often a reaction to one of the major crises that hit Bengal in the 20th century. Here we focus on his printmaking.

Somnath Hore - Important Prints & Other Works

Food & Wine Pairings

This is an attempt to answer the question – “Which wine pairs well with which food?”. The article is partly structured as an ode to my good friend Bedig Margossian – originally an Armenian from Lebanon. A Ph.D. in Abstract Math (ABD) from the University of California, Berkeley; however, happier being a gourmand. Wine, Food, and Cigars are what define him.

VS Gaitonde's Paintings - Technique And Processes

Abstraction refers to non-representational art, Figurative art refers to something with reality - both definitions are broad and have to be in fact, as otherwise, it would be seemingly impossible to categorize many artworks. What's the connection between these definitions with Vasudeo Santo Gaitonde's art? The connection becomes clear thanks to a recent exhibit at the Prince of Wales Museum (now called Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalay).

VS Gaitonde's Paintings - Technique And Processes

Nandalal Bose - Haripura Posters

These posters by Nandalal Bose - made using tempera on handmade paper, were created around 1938 and were commissioned by Mahatma Gandhi. These belong to the permanent collection of the NGMA and were displayed at the India Pavilion in Venice Biennale. We do believe that this is the first time these have seen these for display outside the NGMA.

The Peggy Guggenheim Museum - Venice

Peggy Guggenheim was born in 1898 in New York. Her father, Benjamin Guggenheim, and uncle, Solomon R. Guggenheim were power brokers. The family’s fortune came from mining and smelting industries.

Spotlight - Michelle Poonawalla

Michelle Poonawalla’s art can be characterized as a departure from the usual studies of form and landscape to something vastly different, something very new, something very personal.

Photographs From Santiniketan

A portfolio of original photographs from Santiniketan and the life and social norms present in the campus from the '40s and '50s. The photographs Mahatma Gandhi's visit to Santiniketan.

Rathindranath Tagore (1888 - 1961)

Rathindranath was not only one of the first five boys of the Santiniketan Brahmacharyasrama, but he was also one of the reasons for its existence. Rathindranath was the most representative product of Rabindranath’s educational ideal.

Memories of Mitali and my Jethu - Rathindranath Tagore

My earliest memories are swathed in the scent of mountain pines and a constant leitmotif of a rattling train that would carry me back to our home in Dehradun named Mitali on Rajpur Road – my magical El Dorado – where I spent my childhood with my mother, Meera ma, my maternal grandmother, Lal dida, and my Jethu and foster father, Rathindranath (Tagore).

Memories of Mitali and my Jethu - Rathindranath Tagore

Penti menti : Embracing mistakes

A pentimento (plural pentimenti) is an alteration in a painting which is evidenced by traces of previous work. The alteration shows that the artist changed their mind during the process of making the work.

Shyam Sunder Lal's- Cawnpore

The freedom struggle in India saw a lot of posters made by Indians to unite the masses to oppose the British Raj. These posters or prints were often considered to be seditious material and were confiscated by the British.

Subhas Chandra Bose - Azad Hind Fauj

The end of World War II resulted in a turning point in history for India. It brought about a revolutionary change with multiple mutinies and a sense of political independence. The Indian National Army was formed in 1942 which was formed by Indian nationalist Rash Behari Bose. It was meant to help secure independence from the British Raj.

The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi

The Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi took roughly 40 years to be compiled and spans from 1884 to 1948 when Gandhi was assassinated. The collection includes Gandhi’s writings, letters, essays, notes, and interviews. The collection goes into great detail over 100 volumes about the time when Indian was under British rule and was fighting for independence.

Gandhi’s Harijan Sevak: 1953 - 1954

The Harijan Movement was launched by the Congress leadership in 1932 in accordance to their socio-religious approach to the Dalit caste problem in India. Gandhi was against the use of this movement as a means to strengthen the political activities of Congress and felt like the issue was meant to be dealt with a different strategy.

Insights: Man Ray & Raghu Rai

Man Ray was born Emmanuel Radnitzky in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 27th August 1890. Not only was he one of the most crucial figures in the radical Dadaist and Surrealist movements, but his subject matter even included the monumental figures of Pablo Picasso, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, and Salvador Dali.

Four Indian Modernist Sculptures

At Prinseps' Modern and Contemporary Art Sale on November 17th, we find immense joy in presenting, from the late modern era, four exquisite works by four master craftsmen: Akbar Padamsee, Dhanraj Bhagat, Sankho Chaudhuri, and Amarnath Sehgal.

Vasudeo S. Gaitonde - A Tapestry

Gaitonde grew up in Nagpur, Maharashtra, and studied at the J. J. School of Art. In 1947, he was invited to join the Progressive Artists’ Group and went on to become one of its original members. He worked with various mediums and used a roller and palette knives to create his layered texture, which later became his signature style.

Flowers & Perspective - K H Ara

Born in 1914 K. H. Ara, a founder member of the Progressive Artists’ Group, evolved his trademark style, through nudes and still-life paintings. At first, he preferred to make still lifes for commission due to his financial status. He was a modernist for whom the form and language of art preceded all other social and political motivations. This evolved a certain eclecticism which led him in an exploration of his own style unlike other members of PAG.

Somnath Hore: Form & Figuration

Somnath Hore was born in 1921 in Chittagong studied at the Government College of Art in Calcutta. He witnessed the chain of devastation left by the Japanese bombing raid on Chittagong which was followed by a man made famine in 1943. Such suffering deeply impacted Hore and led him to outpour in sketches and poster drawing, which documented the devastation.