Following the decades of the 40s and the 50s,
dominated by the aesthetic values of School of
Paris, the Indian art scene in the 60s witnessed
a change in direction: the language of
traditional Indian art came back into reckoning;
artists actively entered into dialogue with
traditional visual language and reinvented their
own contexts. The factors prompting this change
were numerous.
Artist and aesthetician Jagdish Swaminathan, in
New Delhi, opposed the modernist aesthetics
brought by the colonial powers. Prof. K. G.
Subramanyan, trained at Kala Bhavana,
Santiniketan, for his part, played a seminal
role in spreading the Santiniketan philosophy,
stressing that traditional visual language was a
rich art historical resource. He used
traditional elements with a modernist
sensibility giving a new direction to visual
language.
By the early 60s a strong feeling of nationhood
was palpable. In Madras, KCS Panikar formed the
Cholamandalam artists’ community. Artists looked
anew at traditional sources of imagery.
Elsewhere, artists like Ganesh Pyne in Calcutta
whose personal sensibilities made him delve into
his heritage, also revisited tradition. Jogen
Chowdhury, who, following his exposure to
European art in Paris stopped working for a
while, returned to evolve, a visual language
that carried resonances of local traditions.
Visual traditions, classical, folk and popular,
coloured the imagination of several artists in
Baroda where Subramanyan played the role of a
catalyst. The creative ferment in Baroda urged
experiments with the narrative mode and
figuration. Gulammohammed Sheikh, Bhupen Khakhar,
Jyoti Bhatt, Neelima Sheikh, Laxma Goud and
others charted a new course.
These artists were inspired by the past
practices and living traditions. They looked a
new at murals, miniature art, illuminated
manuscripts and texts. Their imagination
absorbed the vitality of decorative elements of
tribal and folk arts.
S B Palsikar
One without a Second, Tempera, 185X185 cm
J Swaminathan
Memory’s Journey, Oil on canvas, 126.8X76 cm
Bhupen Khakhar
Hamam Khana, Oil on canvas, 122X121.5 cm
Ganesh Pyne
Mother and Child, Tempera, 66X55 cm
Jogen Chowdhury
Reminiscences of Dream No 18, Watercolour on paper, 55.2X55.2 cm
KCS Paniker
Words and Symbols, Oil on board, 151X121.3 cm
K Ramanujam
My Dream World, Pen and ink on paper, 98.8X152.5 cm
Gulam Mohamed Sheikh
Meghdoot, Oil on canvas, 169X118 cm
Laxma Goud
Untitled, Mixed Media, 20.3X30.4 cm
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