- Passage 1
An interesting fact to note about modern Indian art is that the subject matter in painting and sculpture was largely drawn from rural India. This is the case even with the Bombay Progressives and the Calcutta group during 1940s and 1950s. City and urban life rarely appeared in works of Indian artists. Perhaps, it was felt that real India lives in villages. The Indian artists of the 1940s and 1950s rarely looked at their immediate cultural milieu.
Questions / Answer:
Question 1: What was the primary subject matter in modern Indian art during the 1940s and 1950s?
Answer: The subject matter in painting and sculpture was largely drawn from rural India.
Question 2: Which groups of artists are mentioned in relation to rural themes in modern Indian art?
Answer: The Bombay Progressives and the Calcutta group are mentioned as focusing on rural India in their works.
Question 3: Did Indian artists in the 1940s and 1950s frequently depict city and urban life?
Answer: No, city and urban life rarely appeared in the works of Indian artists during that period.
Question 4: Why might Indian artists of that era have focused on rural India in their art?
Answer: It was perhaps felt that the real India lived in villages, leading artists to draw inspiration from rural life.
Question 5: Did Indian artists of the 1940s and 1950s often explore their immediate cultural surroundings in their work?
Answer: No, Indian artists rarely looked at their immediate cultural milieu during this time.
- Passage 2
The Lives of Medieval Saints
The Lives of Medieval Saints, a mural in Hindi Bhavana, Shantiniketan, was created by Benode Behari Mukherjee around the eve of India’s Independence from Colonial rule, during 1946–1947. The mural employs the technique of fresco buono and covers almost 23 metres of the entire upper half of the three walls of the room. Mukherjee skillfully reminds us of the syncretic and tolerant tradition of Indian life as found in the teachings of great Bhakti poets like Ramanuja, Kabir, Tulsidas, Surdas and others. Despite his poor eyesight, the artist sketched directly on the walls without compositional sketches. The Lives of Medieval Saints was painted in modern style, where each figure is created with bare minimum lines. At the same time, each figure relates with its neighbor by way of rhythmic network of lines. In some ways, the mural reminds us of a painted woven tapestry, a profession that many of these saints belonged to. He was one of the earliest artists in modern India to realise the potential of a mural to become public art.
Questions / Answer:
Question 1: Who created the mural “The Lives of Medieval Saints” and where is it located?
Answer: Benode Behari Mukherjee created the mural, and it is located in Hindi Bhavana, Shantiniketan.
Question 2: When was the mural “The Lives of Medieval Saints” created?
Answer: The mural was created around the eve of India’s Independence, during 1946–1947.
Question 3: What technique was used to create the mural, and how large is it?
Answer: The mural employs the fresco buono technique and covers almost 23 meters of the upper half of three walls.
Question 4: Which tradition of Indian life does the mural remind us of, and which Bhakti poets are mentioned?
Answer: The mural reminds us of the syncretic and tolerant tradition of Indian life, featuring teachings from Bhakti poets like Ramanuja, Kabir, Tulsidas, and Surdas.
Question 5: What was unique about Mukherjee’s process of painting the mural despite his poor eyesight?
Answer: Despite his poor eyesight, Mukherjee sketched directly on the walls without using compositional sketches, creating figures with minimal lines that connected through a rhythmic network of lines.
- Passage 3
Haldi Grinder Amrita Sher-Gil painted Haldi Grinder in 1940. This was the time when she was seeking inspiration from India’s idyllic rural scene. Such a scene, depicting Indian women busy in a traditional activity of grinding dry turmeric, had to be painted in Indian style. It is not surprising that she used bright, saturated pigments to paint this work. Given her training in modern art in Europe, she was quick to see parallels between miniature traditions of north India and modern art of Paul Gaugin, an artist she admired. This is evident in the way she has placed bright colour patches close to each other and created shapes of figures by colour contrast and not outline. Such a style of painting reminds us of, as for instance, the Basohli paintings from north India. The women and trees are painted as flat shapes. Sher-Gil is not interested in creating any depth in the landscape and prefers a semi-abstract pattern as a modern artist.
Questions / Answer:
Question 1: When did Amrita Sher-Gil paint “Haldi Grinder,” and what was her source of inspiration?
Answer: Amrita Sher-Gil painted “Haldi Grinder” in 1940, seeking inspiration from India’s idyllic rural scene.
Question 2: What traditional activity is depicted in the painting?
Answer: The painting depicts Indian women engaged in the traditional activity of grinding dry turmeric.
Question 3: What artistic style and techniques did Sher-Gil use in “Haldi Grinder”?
Answer: She used bright, saturated pigments and painted figures using color contrast rather than outlines, reminiscent of miniature traditions and the works of Paul Gauguin.
Question 4: How does Sher-Gil’s painting style relate to traditional Indian art?
Answer: Her style reminds us of Basohli paintings from north India, where women and trees are depicted as flat shapes without a focus on creating depth in the landscape.
Question 5: What aspect of her artistic approach reflects her background in modern art?
Answer: Sher-Gil’s preference for a semi-abstract pattern, rather than creating depth, indicates her modern artistic approach, influenced by her training in Europe.
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