My last column was dedicated to Robert Hughes, his demise and the loss of a great art critic to the world. It brings memories of a few great Indian art critics—among them—a few with whom I had the fortune to associate and interact with.
During late 70s when I began to write on art for a Bangalore based tabloid—City Tab—I began to study the ways of writing by then prominent Indian art critics. Richard Bartholomew, Krishna Chaitanya, SA Krishnan, Keshave Mallick, Jaya Appasamy, AS Raman, Nissim Ezekiel, Joseph James, Anjali Sircar, Sarayu Doshi, Dyaneshwar Nadkarni, Pranab Ranjan Dey were a few critics and art historians whose writings I followed. In 1979, I had the opportunity to meet Bartholomew and Krishnan during the annual award function of Karnataka Lalit Kala Akademi. They were in the jury for the annual awards. They liked my award-winning painting and advised me to come to Delhi and work there.
After a year, I was in Delhi practising graphic print making at Garhi—the national academy’s community studios for artists. This period became a major turning point in my artistic career. I spend countless evenings with Richard and Krishnan discussing art and literature. Seniors to me, they treated me like a friend and became instrumental in moulding my thoughts and philosophy of art.
Richard was a pioneering critic who has shaped the public understanding of the modernistic works of artists like the Progressive Arts Group and others. Souza, Hussain, Tyab Mehta, Krishan Khanna, Ramkumar, Biren Dey, Satish Gujral, Swaminathan, Santosh, Sabhawala, Ramkiker Baij—to mention a few—have found an understanding critic in Richard much before they all attained legendary status. Richard wrote numerous articles with intimacy and understanding about the contemporary artists works in prominent publications like the Indian Express and the Times of India. Being a painter and photographer himself, his understanding of the mediums and methods was much above the superficial level of some of today’s art critics. Richard’s monograph on Hussain published by Harry Abrams and the work on the great print maker Krishna Reddy speaks volumes of his understanding and outlook on artists.
Krishnan who was editor of national academy’s prestigious art magazine ‘Lalitkala Contemporary’ wrote art criticism for the Statesman. A painter himself, he never compromised on his views on art and its creators. He supported artists who were serious in their pursuit and shunned populism and vehemently criticised those who sought short cuts. I accompanied him one evening to a British artist’s show at Art Heritage—the gallery run by Roshan Alkazi. This particular artist had plucked pages from a book and scribbled on them words and pictures in a haphazard way. “This is Angrezi bakwaas hey.” The piece that appeared in the Statesman later wasn’t any thing milder than that outburst.
AS Raman’s understanding of Indian contemporary art, literature, music and dance was unparallel. From a columnist, he rose to edit the prestigious Illustrated Weekly as the first Indian origin editor of that magazine. During his tenure, he supported creative persons from all walks in a major way. Later, he became the dean of faculty of art in Tanjore University. With his passion for art, he organised an artists’ camp. Participating in this two-week workshop was one of the greatest experiences in my life. Raman went around analysing and discussing our works, encouraging many of us to attempt something new.
Many of these critics honestly dedicated themselves to art and its promotion thinking beyond money and recognition. I wonder if the nation has given them back anything for their struggle at a time when art was hardly recognised and artists got the understanding they deserved. As long as world art history is alive, they would live in glorious colours.
(The writer is a renowned artist)
