Line-Up Of Exalted Works By A Galaxy Of Modernists

The wooden boxes that are otherwise unsung home for the great works in the vaults all these years double as eloquent backdrops to the exhibits at a momentous show that the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) is holding in the capital city. Summer is anyway peaking in Delhi; so a walk down the corridors featuring ‘Itihaas’ can give a vivid idea about the 20th-century sculpting in a big and ancient country that is India.

‘Itihaas’ is the name of a milestone event at the NGMA—an institution the central government set up in 1954 with a view to promote the country’s visual arts and showcase the works of its masters, some of them dating back to 1857. Even so, paintings have typically found an upper hand—and that is what makes the two-month ‘Itihaas’ stand out: it’s predominantly about sculptures. There are a good 65 of them from no less than 22 sculptors from across the nation’s socio-geographical contours.

 “We had to do it in a hurry, but I believe we could still bring out the spirit of it,” says Adwaita Gadanayak, new director-general of the NGMA, who has curated ‘Itihaas’ on the occasion of the gallery’s 63rd foundation day and was inaugurated by Union culture minister Mahesh Sharma. “In conceptualising a show from the treasure trove of NGMA’s archives, we are excavating the institution’s history as well, alongside modernism in Indian contemporary art. These works are like milestones in the history of contemporary art. These artists have given us pathways of ingenuity and innovation.”

 Middle-aged Gadanayak, who is himself a sculptor acclaimed for his works on stone, notes that ‘Itihaas’, which is slated to end on May 29, has taken care to ensure that the exhibits carry the quality of having moulded a new language “when you think that all of them worked in metal” in the 1950s. “We seek to commemorate and rearticulate the debut of NGMA through the works of artists who were finding their own pathways,” he adds.

 The exhibition thus profiles some of the celebrated works by Indian maestros like Devi Prasad Roy Choudhury, Ramkinkar Baij, Sankho Chaudhuri, Dhanraj Bhagat and Sarbari Roy Chowdhury among those who had participated in the inauguration of the NGMA building. Take, for instance, The Triumph of Labour. Debi Prasad Roy Choudhary’s piece de resistance was awarded the first prize in 1954 at the NGMA’s inaugural show of the foundation day. As experts note, it rightly defines the abacus of thought that broke away from academic realism to forge a sojourn that was inherently modernist. Not surprising, thus, a model of this work by Roy Choudhury (1899-1975) makes it to ‘Itihaas’, even as the original adorns the lawns of the imposing NGMA complex close to the famed India Gate.

 Among other Roy Choudhary works at the show are When Winter Comes, which is a compassionate example of the lover of the human form (portraying a common labourer sitting huddled in the cold), and After Bath that openly celebrates the feminine form even as the attire is pared down.

 As for Bengal’s Ram Kinkar (1906-80), there are 26 of his works at ‘Itihaas’. As observed by art scholar Uma Nair, who has assisted the NGMA organise the exhibition, studying the ambience around Ram Kinkar at Santinkentan brought the artist to a sensibility that broke away from formality and convention. “While each angle is a vignette of vintage vitality, The Harvester, just to quote an example, is an entity of a labouring body that is almost machine-like in its angularity and power. The gesture—of lifting up the scythe and bending backward to gain maximum momentum—is crystallised into an idealised form that is nearly abstract,” she notes, adding that the “articulation of the moment is what engages our minds and hearts”.

 Sankho Choudhuri’s Toilet is an arresting work, done on a single block of marble, emphasizing the attributes of feminity in a manner that combines vitality and finesse, composure and character. Dhanaraj Bhagat’s Standing Woman is an ode to the feminine form, what with a copper sheet beaten and contoured into a woman’s body in femme fluidity. Then there is Polish sculptor Fredda Brilliant (known for her gypsy creativity) with the work of the head of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India. Pilloo Pochkhanawalla (1923-86) creates an emotive visage that at the first looks like a terracotta mask from antiquity.

 The works of Dhaka-born Prodosh Dasgupata, who joined Madras School of Art after graduating from Calcutta University, reinforce his reputation of an owner of ideas on art that were never random, but tools in favour of artistic practice. While Uma Siddhanta’s only work in the exhibition shows how the sculptor wants to juxtapose perfect forms from nature and recreate them—as a metallic meshed car in all its tapered tactility. Going by Hamara Akash, Amarnath Sehgal’s prowess lay in the degree of expression he was able to conquer in his sculptures.

 NGMA director Pradeep Kumar notes ‘Itihaas’ features sculptures along with paintings and drawings, making it a “fitting way to celebrate the legacy of our modern masters”. This exhibition is indeed a rare opportunity to view celebrated sculptures and gain insight to artists’ creative genius.

Overall, as Nair notes, this NGMA collection distills the loftiest truths of India’s artistic forays  into simple, modernist creations  that enrich the mind and inform the affairs of art journeys. “The works seem to express the revelation that we are our architects of imagination—and that through art, liberated from the constraints of conventional academism, we can discover new possibilities of both mind and spirit,” she adds.