Artistically yours

The genesis of Indian Modern Art can be found with the establishment of Kala Bhavana by Abanindranath Tagore and his disciple Nandalal Bose. The foundation of the Bengal School of Art Movement was laid by the pioneering works of artists like Benode Bihari, Ramkinkar Baij, Debi Prasad, Asit Haldar and others. In the international sphere, besides the influence of Bengal School, the independent and free-minded works of Rabindranath Tagore can be identified as the greatest example of Indian Modern Art.

On the other hand, students of Government Art College, educated in western style, started creating works in their own unique way. A stalwart among them was Jamini Roy. Later, in the 1940's, a group of artists with a more modern outlook started the Calcutta Group; discarding the Bengal School of Art. Prominent among them were artists like Pradosh Dasgupta, Nirode Majumdar, Paritosh Sen and Nirban Ash who were partly influenced by the modern art movement in the West. Around the same time, The Progressive Group was created in Bombay. They also had a similar international perspective. Artists like Souza, Raza, Hussain, Padamsee, Tyeb Mehta and Gaitonde were the torchbearers of this group. Many settled in Paris, while others were in regular contact with Europe.

After Calcutta Group, in the 1960's, many other artist groups started to come up. Almost simultaneously, artists from Society of Contemporary Art and Calcutta Painters began experimenting and expressed themselves with contemporary paintings and sculptures. Most prominent among them were Somenath Hore, Nikhil Biswas, Bijan Chowdhury, Rabin Mondal, Prakash Karmakar, Sanath Kar, Shyamal Dutta Ray, Sunil Das, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Ganesh Pyne, Ganesh Haloi, Suhash Roy, Lalu Prasad Shaw and Deepak Banerjee. Despite various obstacles and challenges, they began to receive considerable recognition at various national and international exhibitions. Some of them became commercially very successful too. Subsequently, in the 1970's, Jogen Chowdhury, Anita Roychowdhury, Bimal Dasgupta, Shuvaprasanna and others joined Calcutta Painters. On the other hand, Chintamani Kar, Chittoprosad, Haren Das, Sailoz Mukerjea, Abani Sen and Bhabesh Sanyal kept creating their works in Delhi, Bombay and elsewhere. Contemporary among them were Karuna Saha, Shanu Lahiri and Paris-based Shakti Burman.

Globally, the atmosphere and flavour of art began to change in the 1980's. Suddenly, many private art galleries began to pop up everywhere. They began to take charge of highlighting artists through exhibitions. They also took responsibility of publicity and sale, based on commission. Gradually, it created a market for paintings and other artworks.

One of the oldest and most important art centres in Calcutta, as well as in India, was the Academy of Fine Arts. Later, Birla Academy also emerged as an important art centre. Apart from organising all India exhibitions, they began to collect modern and ancient Indian artworks for their own collection – this was a major move. Even later, artist Shuvaprasanna and his students established a unique artists' village cum commune named Arts Acre. Many young artists gather and explore their creativity there. Among them Shyam Kanu, Somenath Maity, Samir Roy, Ashoke Mullick and Debabrata De are most noteworthy.

Between 1985 and 2005, there was an unbelievable increase in the demand for paintings and sculptures all over India. Consequently, the price of artworks also began to rise. There was an unprecedented wave in the Indian art market. The works of many artists became very expensive. Subsequently, due to economic depression, the art market also began to collapse. Many galleries were forced to shut their doors. People who were there to just earn a profit from this boom slowly left the market.

The 1980's gave recognition to many artists. Many gained accolades, both nationally and internationally. Many galleries and connoisseurs or patrons invited artists for workshops. On one hand, there was free exchange between artists from different parts; on the other, collectors also benefitted by getting hold of lucrative artworks.

Talented painters from Kolkata – Aditya Basak, Chandra Bhattacharjee, Sunil De, Manoj Mitra, Samir Aich, Shipra Bhattacharya, Jayashree Chakraborty, Subrata Ganguly, Paresh Maity, Bishwapati Maity, Pradip Maitra, Atin Basak, Ashok Bhowmik are continuing with their important works. Meanwhile, the latest addition is a quality institution – the Arts Acre Museum of Bengal Modern Art and International Centre for Creativity and Cultural Vision. Contemporary works are being regularly exhibited at various galleries. Young artists with their ultra modern perspectives are continuously expressing themselves through installation arts on a multitude of subject matters. Kolkata remains vibrant through the creative works of these talented artists.

(The author is a senior journalist specialising in culture)