India’s struggle for independence and its assertion of a new-found identity was not just marked by political and social shifts. It witnessed an artistic awakening too. Years before Independence, artists from different corners of the country — from Mumbai’s The Progressive Artists’ Group founded by F.N. Souza, M. F. Husain, and S. H. Raza, amongst others, Europe-returned Amrita Sher-Gil, to artists from Bengal’s Santiniketan, moved decisively away from colonial narratives. The art that flourished from the 1940s to the 1970s asserted the voice of a new India — one that needed to look inwards and build its own canon of rich cultural heritage while also keeping pace with the contemporary art movements that shaped the world.
The recently concluded exhibition, ‘The Four: Celebrating the Birth Centenary of Four Modern Indian Masters’, displayed the works of four such modern Indian masters — F.N. Souza, K.G. Subramanyan, Ram Kumar, and V.S. Gaitonde — all born in 1924. Organised by the Progressive Art Gallery, in collaboration with the Raza Foundation, the show was curated by eminent historian and critic Yashodhara Dalmia. Dalmia’s curatorial vision was aimed to showcase each artist’s journey. “They represented different facets of a newly independent India, exploring the human experience, spirituality, and the sociopolitical context of the time,” she tells TMS.
Harsh Vardhan Singh, Director & CEO of Progressive Art Gallery, says the legacies of the four “serve as a lens through which we can explore themes of identity, memory, and transformation, resonating with the challenges and aspirations of contemporary society.’’
Shedding colonial narratives
As we did the walk-through, our first encounter was with the widely acclaimed Goan artist Souza’s provocative canvases. His distorted human forms layered with almost grotesque features presented the primal and more visceral aspects of human life. It challenged British-influenced art’s focus on idyllic landscapes, genteel and sophisticated figures. His faces express the moral decay of society governed by rigid forces like religious orthodoxy; Souza, who was raised a Catholic, felt the Church’s moral codes suppress human desire and sexuality. “Souza’s work often scrutinises the Church and societal norms, reflecting his resistance to conformity and hypocrisy. His ‘Untitled Heads’ starkly critique the corruption he saw in institutional power,” Dalmia notes.
Quest for inner freedom
While Souza and other contemporaries like Husain were boldly critiquing a society of subdued desires, religious dogma and Victorian morals, Nagpur-born Gaintonde took a quieter turn. His works focused on the quest for personal freedom in post-colonial India. A gaze at his ‘Untitled’ series of works painted in rich gradations of red and inspired by Abstract Expressionism will beckon one to stop and introspect. For a newborn country like India, it perhaps meant looking inwards, towards a spritual awakening. The source of such philosophical quality of his works comes from the artist’s fascination with Zen Buddhism where he believed in self-reflection.
Similar to Gaitonde who had shifted from figurative to abstract art, and was known for the transcendental quality of his works, is the work of Shimla-born artist Kumar. He shifted from figurative to abstract representations of landscapes inspired by his travels to the holy city of Varanasi where he was struck by the haunting beauty of metaphysical subjects like life, death and the spiritual realm as seen in his work ‘In Memory of Benaras’. His ‘Untitled’ work showing two dismal human figurines standing isolated within an urbanised setting underscored his understanding of the alienation of human existence within a rapidly developing and newly independent India. Dalmia notes: “Both artists use minimalist forms — where colour and texture become primary elements over representational forms. Their works convey depth and introspection, albeit in very different ways — Gaitonde’s translucent colours evoke meditative spaces, while Kumar’s earthy hues depict the resilience and fragility of urban spaces.”
Celebrating folk traditions
If Kumar and Gaitonde’s works were more suggestive, Kerala-born artist Subramanyan lucidly depicted the rich cultural heritage of India. His colorfully-charged visual language was inspired by folk traditions such as Kalighat painting, Pattachitra, Indian court paintings, rural life and mythology. For him, modern Indian art could draw from indigenous artistic traditions of the country without succumbing to colonial era-influenced academic realism that was rooted in naturalistic and idealised representation. The result was in front of us — paintings like ‘Brown Madonna’ depicting a tribal lady adorned with local ornamentation, and ‘Peacock Throne’ showing caricatured folk figures. His folk-ish themes coalesced with global art influences like Cubism, Abstraction and Surrealism for a local-meets-global art language. “Subramanyan, with works like ‘Ragini Vibhas’, infused local folk elements and used satire to reflect the complex, and layered identity of India. He created a dialogue between tradition and modernity,” Dalmia tells us. She also notes that both Souza and Subramanyan explore inner turmoil, though their expressions differ. “Souza’s ‘Untitled Heads’ expose humanity’s darker aspects, using bold, almost grotesque forms, whereas Subramanyan’s figures convey satire and social commentary through folk-inspired aesthetics.”
She concludes that each of the four artists offer a nuanced portrayal of India’s emergence as a “modern, introspective, and culturally dynamic society.”