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Going back in time

Leading up to the Independence Day celebrations in the Capital, an art gallery has come up with a treasure trove of artifacts that would definitely attract art lovers and history lovers from across the city.  

As the title Recalling Pre-Independence suggests, the works of the artist on display are from the 1940’s to 1960’s. The concept behind this show is to showcase the timeline of the Pre & Post Independence. The show is on till the end of this month and the works are up for sale at very competent prices. The exhibition opens on 8th August

A few important works from this collection will also be part of the upcoming Auction by Art Bull.
The Statesman dated 15 August, 1947, confidential Letters from Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru to the first chief minister of West Bengal Dr. Prafulla Chandra Ghosh after the partition of India, photographs by Bidyut Ganguly, Bourne & Shephard, Julian Rust, Sunil Jana, 1940’s works by M. F Husain and paintings, drawings and prints  by Abanindranath Tagore, Balendra, Chittaprosad Bhattacharya, Devi Prasad Roy Choudhary, Gaganendranath Tagore, Gauri, Gopal Ghose, Haren Das, Hemen Mazumdar, Jamini Roy, K. A. Sethna, Lalit Mohan Sen, M. V. Dhrandhar, Manindra Bhushan Dey, Manindra Bhushan Gupta, Mukul Dey, M F Husain, Nikhl Biswas, Niren Sen, Paritosh Sen, Prankrishna Pal, Ramendra Chakravarty, Rashmi Sengupta, Sanchar Chand Sharma, Satish Sinha, Satya Ranjan Mazumdar, Sauren Sen, Sushil Sen, Vasant Pandit and some more artists will be on display at the exhibition. 

Two centuries of British rule in India ended at the midnight on 15 August, 1947. The stalwarts of Indian art during Pre-Independence era were all carrying forward their nationalist ideals at the time of freedom struggle. Unlike the more obvious impact of westernization which was seen in Ravi Varma’s paintings, the pre-independence era artists exhibited the growth of national consciousness. Art for them meant evolving a truly indigenous culture, stripped of its western moorings. 

The indigenous artistic revival movement started with Havell meeting the young Bengali painter, Abanindranath who together formed an ideology which later was known as the new Bengal School.
 
In the twentieth century, Gaganendranath brought creative changes through his cartoons and grotesque characters. Chittaprosad also as an illustrator brought social consciousness and campaigning for the freedom struggle into the subject of art by capturing the poverty, famines and massacres by the Britishers through his drawings and graphics. 


Jamini Roy on the other hand drew his inspirations from Indian mythology and traditional folk art. Other prominent revivalist artists were Nandalal Bose, D.P. Roy Choudhury, Ramkinker Baij, A.K. Haldar, Kshitindranath Mazumdar, Sarada Ukil and A.R. Chugtai.

During 1943, Bengal was ravaged by unprecedented famine killing millions. This manmade disaster pushed many artists to find a new language to express their understanding of what was happening around them. Few artists rejected the idealism practiced earlier and formed Calcutta Group. There artists were Pradosh Dasgupta andKamala Dasgupta, Gopal Ghose, Nirode Majumdar, Paritosh Sen, and Subho Tagore and later joined in by Pran Krishna Pal, Goverdhan Ash and many more.

Where: Art Bull, F-213C First Floor, S.I.S. House, Lado Sarai
WHEN: 8 - 29 August, 11 am to 7 pm

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