This would be an important never-before-seen exhibition exploring six decades of Modernism in Indian art and avant-garde art on the blockchain.
Key Concepts
Modernism - broadly “a break from tradition and rules”
Path(s) to Modernism - The study of various influences and influencers that led to change and innovation in art
Key Highlights of the Exhibition
- Archival information - crucial letters and catalogues on display for the first time
- Seminal artworks - Early and crucially important art works on display for the first time
- Digital art on the blockchain
- Show Modernism over a broader landscape and encourage critical thinking
Brief Description of the Event
The event describes the various paths to Modernism and builds on this narrative over seven decades from the 1920s-1980s. The exhibition ends with a focus on digital art on the blockchain.
There are many paths to modernism. These paths may be simultaneous, concurrent, and/or disjointed. This is not just particular to India but in other continents/countries as well. This exhibition will attempt to document a few of them and encourage people to read art history and to think for themselves. Each section will include seminal art works and important archival information.
The exhibition will bring about critical thinking on modernism, and hopefully further research in this area.
The many paths to modernism (this is far from exhaustive)
- via Jamini Roy
The exhibition will display the seminal work which shows an early experiment with Village Patchitras and Kalighat Pats. This art work is unique and of the same significance as Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Picasso
Gladstone Solomon in his book on Indigenous arts highlights the ‘Rangoli’, we will present an early art work by Jamini Roy (tempera on cloth) that abstracts a sunflower in the form of a rangoli (also called Alpona in Bengali). Indigenously inspired abstraction from the 1930s!
- via Abanindranath Tagore
Abanindranath was the founder of the Bengal school. We will present works by him , by his student Nandalal Bose all in the style of Bengal School and explain the rules of Bengal School
- “Look East”
Bengal school was revivalist and looked up to Mughal miniatures and Ajanta for inspiration, to move away from the academic British style. There was another - a ‘look east’ (to Japan/the Orient) movement to art . We will exhibit exceptionally rare art works of this genre
- Atul Bose leading to Gobardhan Ash
Atul Bose was Gobardhan’s mentor and wrote the manifesto for the Art Rebel Center. This is the first time (1930) we hear in writing of “non sentimental” approach to art. This is the beginning of modernism as we know it . Atul Bose’s career began in 1922 . HIs portrait of Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee (Bengal Tiger) earned him a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy in London. This crucially important portrait will be on display as well as other ‘non sentimental experiments’
- Bauhaus exhibition in the 1920s and Western movements that trickled into India at that time
- via the Calcutta Group and subsequently the Progressive Artists Group
The Calcutta group was formed in 1943 the year it held its first exhibition. Its two subsequent exhibitions were held in Bombay in 1944 and 45 and covered in the Times of India by Rudy Von Leyden. Subsequently, its founding member, Rathin Maitra, held the first modernist solo show in Independent India, in Bombay in September 1947 (sponsored by the Bombay Art Society). While the Art Rebel Center made the first mention of 'non sentimental art' in its manifesto which was crafted by Gobardhan's mentor - Atul Bose, the Calcutta group continued the attempt to "modernize" Indian Art away from anything local and 'sentimental' and look to world art for further influences. They encouraged many other such movements and were instrumental in introducing and doing a joint show in Calcutta with the Bombay Progressives. It has further been noted from Lalit Kala archives that K.H.Ara was the exhibition assistant to the two shows of the Calcutta group that were held in Bombay in 1944/45.
- via Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore followed his own path, we will display the very rare artwork in leather
- via Crafts
Woodworking , Batik , and Leatherwork was intrinsic to Santiniketan and while originally in the category of ‘craft’ , are now included in the same category. In fact art has moved away from simply being Oil on Canvas and now includes many distinctive craft-like elements
- via Kolhapur
Dhurandhar, Baburao Painter and many other artists owe their allegiance to Kolhapur partly to the patronage of Shahu Maharaj. Bhanu Athaiya’s art relies a lot on her upbringing in Kolhapur and on the teachings of Ahivasi (Bombay Revivalist School) and the JJ School. Bhanu went on to become a costume designer with a very unique flair - she created miniature-esque art works/water colour sketches for most of the costumes she designed. She was an artist by training and her costume sketches were her art and a continuation of miniature / revivalist art.
- via the Bombay Revivalists
Under the mentor of Solomon Gladstone, Ahivasi, this pre-independence movement in Indian art has been forgotten
- via The Indian People’s Theatre Association’s (IPTA)
The leftist movement via the anti-fascist writers group (which was renamed to Progressive Writers Association) and the IPTA were crucial in encouraging art movements in both Bengal and Bombay (under the mentorship of PC Joshi, Anil de Silva, Jyotirindranath Moitra and others) . In fact they were so successful in promoting art and artist groups that there were quite a few groups that called themselves ‘Progressive’
- via Bikash’s surrealism
- via Manjit’s figuration
- via Digital Art on the blockchain
works by artists such as Keren Souza (daughter of FN Souza) and Louis Banks (Godfather of Indian Jazz) whose artworks Prinseps Research has had the privilege of publishing on the blockchain as NFTs or tokenized art
To add to the buzz, our panel discussions will utilize the same chairs that can be seen in this photograph from the Rathindranath Tagore Estate.
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