Of experts who redefined art

An exhibition that took everyone by surprise on Tuesday was The Itinerant Bengal,  a collection of paintings, curated by Pradipta Mohapatra from various other curators. Surprise, because the paintings of nine renowned Bengal artists of the 1930s were brought together for the exhibition. Though the art expo is being held long after the lifetime of most of the Bengali artists, it provided an opportunity to feature them all on a common platform. Having emerged as well-known artists, many of them travelled to different parts of India to either study under teachers of their preference or moved out to different art schools to teach. Curator of the show, Pradipta says, “These artists were itinerant. They learnt and taught art to others. For instance, KG Subramanyan, a Tamilian, who studied in Bengal, moved to Baroda after becoming a full-fledged artist. During his period, a lot of artists didn’t follow a single ideology but followed different cultural engagements like folk art tradition.” Subramanyan was the only artist alive, the curator explains. And that wasn’t all. Pointing t0 the painting done in 1921 by DP Roy Chowdary called A street singer, Pradipta said, “This is one of the highlights of the exhibition. The painting was done more than 90 years ago and is still a fine example of today’s art culture. Actually, if you observe the painting, Roy had used the colours in such a way that the textures define the dilapidated wall, in front of which an engrossed beggar plays his instrument – even though the frames are worn-out, the painting is an approach to modernism.”  Roy later became principal of the Madras School of Arts and Crafts. A sculptor by passion, Roy was the mastermind for the Labour Statue along the Marina shore. This exhibition clearly was not just a showcase of art, but a tale of those renowned artists who redefined art.  The other artists whose works were showcased include Hemendranath Mazumdar, Kshitindranath Mazumdar, AR Chugtai, Sudhir Khastgir, Paritosh Sen, Gopal Ghose and A Ramachandran.The Itinerant of Bengal exhibtion by nine Bengal, is on till March 20.