British intervention in art education in the
19th century created hierarchies in art
practices. Oil paintings rose to the apex.
Graphic art made through processes of
reproduction and technology-based photography
was looked down upon.
A growing printing and publishing trade in
Calcutta created a demand for the illustrations
and so woodcut prints flourished in the 19th and
early 20th centuries. Similarly, in Santiniketan
in the 20th century, a vigorous publishing
programme of Bengali Primers for children saw
the encouragement of the graphic medium. The
Santiniketan masters actively experimented with
engravings, woodcuts and linocuts. Both at the
Government School of Arts at Calcutta and at
Kala Bhavana in Santiniketan, printmaking
facilities became an important part of art
education. Later, the art schools, as displayed
by the works at NGMA, at Baroda and Delhi also
built up their printing process considerably.
Although graphic art initially fulfilled the
need of publishing, before long it excited the
artists with its potential as a medium. The NGMA
has built up a discerning collection of such
works.
Haren Das
Angling Hours, Woodcut on paper, 25.8 X 18 cm
Zarina
Benares, Untitled, Graphics, 113 X 77 cm
Krishna Reddy
Falling Figure, Etching on paper, 44 X 33.5 cm
R M Palaniappan
Drawing on space by H Flight, 22 Mixed Media, 56 X 76cm
Laxma Gaud
Untitled, Etching, 40 X 26.5 cm
Somnath Hore
Untitled, 24 X 24 cm
Lalu Prasad Shaw
From Upward, Lithograph, 40 X 50 cm
Anwar
Print III, Lithograph on canvas, 77 X 106 cm
Anupam Sud
The Ceremony of Unmasking(triptych), Etching on paper, 65 X 95 cm
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