'Mona Lisa' of Indian Painting: Saib Jan Photo Courtesy: The Indian Portrait:1560-1860

Exquisite colouring and details of the paintings of the Mughal court at its zenith were captured at the exhibition The Indian Portrait – 1560-1860 at the National Portrait Gallery in London recently.

The Indian Portrait – 1560-1860 is a small and intimate show of just sixty portraits over a three hundred year period. Curated by the well known textile and painting expert, senior curator Rosemary Crill of the Victoria and Albert Museum with Kapil Jariwala, an independent curator, the show is an insight into what Jariwala mentions in his opening curatorial comments:

“The development of the genre within the vast body of Indian painting, it looks at the different ways in which Indian artists have approached the portrait over a 300-year period at various places across the geography of the Indian subcontinent. The story of the Indian portrait is a fascinating journey, encompassing notions of the real and the ideal, the observed and the imagined. The selection presented here consists mainly of paintings of known people and documented portraits, but also includes some that remain anonymous. These images reveal the history of the period, the role of patronage in driving innovation in artistic representation, and the emergence of the artist as an observer with a distinct and subtle vision… Many of them also illuminate the personal histories of the individuals they depict. These works are a record of a rich and complex past, embracing influences from Iran and Europe as well as local Hindu and Muslim traditions. They not only demonstrate the growing self-awareness of how Indians saw themselves, but also how they wished to be seen”.

There is already a history of portraiture that predates the period of the show. Ajanta paintings, the frescos in the temples of Thanjavur as well as portraiture on the Jain and Buddhist manuscripts not to mention those shown in sculptural hints left in temples. However, as art historians will tell us, these were idealised portraits where there seemed a certain prototype/archetype followed and while the characters depicted were definitive they were to be imagined from a classical pictorial grammar. All this started changing with the Mughals, who brought with them painters from the Persian firmament. Celebrated artists, these men set up ‘Tasvir Khanas’ to train the locals and every successive Mughal monarch improved and perfected the art of portraiture.

The starting of this is mentioned by Susan Stronge in her essay “The Chronology of Portraiture at the Mughal Court”.

“In the late sixteenth century, a radical innovation in Mughal court painting was recorded by the historian of the Emperor Akbar’s reign. Abu’l Fazl wrote his magisterial chronicle the ‘Akbarnama’ between 1589 and 1596. Its third volume, entitled the Ain-i Akbari (Akbarian Ceremonial) described various court institutions, including the ‘tasvir khana’, or atelier of figural painting. Here the historian mentions the excellence of the royal artists at producing the likenesses of prominent individuals. Due to the Emperor’s encouragement, Abu’l Fazl reported, the ‘magical art’ of tasvir, or ‘representing figures’, had gained in beauty. By order of Akbar himself, portraits (surat), have been painted of all His Majesty’s servants, and a huge book (ketab) has been made.”

Abu’l Fazl measured the royal artists’ work against two standards: the world renowned unique art of Behzad and the magic- making of the Europeans (farang). Kamal al-Din Behzad was the supreme artist of the Timurid and Safavid courts. A decree appointing him director of the royal library under Shah Tahmasp of Iran is cited by historians, his name was famous across the Persian-speaking world to which the Mughals belonged and his paintings were collected in the country and aristocratic circles. European art, on the other hand, was a relatively recent arrival at the court and at this period was predominantly Christian in subject.

Emperors and hierarchies

The show has a wonderful selection of paintings from the Mughal era and one of the finest is a miniature of Jahangir. In size it is 73 mm by 57 mm. But the work shows his face and side profile at the jharokha or window where a subject could view him; attributed to the artist Daulat who had been in the Mughal Court this painting may have been amongst the last of Jahangir’s as he died later that year. In its subtle glow there is a golden aura about the portrait. Besides the royal nimbus with gold lines, the clothes, turban and jewels accentuate a grandiose majesty. For that size, there is an incredible detailing at the eyes, the gradations at the chin and the greying hair at his sideburns as well as the layering folds of his dress at the arms. Another beautifully rendered composition is from a page of the Padshanama attributed to Abid around 1635 from the Royal Collection of the Queen of England, Elizabeth II. Here however, as the Emperor has a great likeness to the earlier small painting, what is noteworthy is the faces of the various levels of the court or Darbar hierarchy. The prince Khurram who would later be the Emperor Shajahan is shown paying his respects, but underneath the balcony a series of nobles are shown in various clothing styles – some opaque and embroidered and others in fine summer muslins, gossamer fabrics printed with gold motifs of Mughal flowers or Chinese inspired clouds. One of the courtiers even has a multiple collar /lapelled front obviously very fashionable at that time. What this painting also does is show various commoners in different postures. A bearded laughing man and others with a multiplicity of turban styles. The finesse of the colouring and detailing make paintings at this time the high point of Mughal art.

Besides this painting, there are many pictures significantly devoid of royalty. There is a court musician a falconer, a Jain monk, courtesans and even a court scribe hunched up over a project. These give us insights into the common people of that time.

Mingling cultures

The Mughals interacted with the Rajputs, capturing their kingdoms, marrying their daughters and respecting their traditions. As a result Rajput painting also benefited from a cross-cultural engagement at the courts of the Mughals. Their rulers were shown in a similar manner, in profile, usually against a background of green, holding a jewel or flower in their hands, or finery, hunting or in processions to reaffirm their majesty. The poster for this show shows Anup Singh of Deogarh, Mewar atop his horse with his falcon, having just slain a bird. His tasselled horse and his profile create a composition of great beauty.

Through out the show we meet royalty from the courts as well as those from the Deccan and Rajput and Pahari (hill) states. One of the rare and most beautiful pieces is a famous piece of the Museum Reitberg, Zurich showing Raja Balwant Singh of Jasrota watching a miniature while the artist Nainsukh is behind him proffering his opinion or recommending the artist. The scene is done in complete simplicity and has an aura of minimalism. Nainsukh is amongst the most beloved of Pahari painters and museums and private collectors vie with each other for his work even today.

As things progressed new genres interjected themselves with European portraiture as Jesuits, the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English came to bring painted portraits to Court. Jahangir is said to have displayed gifts of portraits during Navruz festival and there are paintings depicting a Madonna in some of his durbar scenes.

The British Company school produced paintings as keepsakes and also to send back as officers and gentlemen sat in profile with hookah pipes like the royalty of that time. Landscapes allowed for telling details to be filled. Soldiers, courtesans and the minions that worked for the company were shown in styles influenced by Rajput, Mughal and the Pahari traditions of portraiture. The result of this was how people saw themselves. There are three wonderful portraits that show this intermingling of genres. Seth Manekchand at the balcony is a huge portrait of a merchant much in the style of earlier Jharokha views of the Mughals but here in a large format painting probably one that graced his home and this is how he probably wanted to be seen. A prince among merchants. Then there is portrait of the Sindhia General Ram Rao Phalke, with his typical Maratha headgear and scarf, the picture, though flat allows a wonderful colour balance in its border and the subjects placement has a strong graphic element. Finally the Mona Lisa of the show. ‘Sahib Jan’ is shown looking directly at the painter. Her hookah pipe about to be put to her lips. This is a rare composition as Zenana women were inpurdah.There is no threat of a smile and yet her imposing presence fills the composition.

An interesting essay on materials by curator Jariwala, throws light on the incorporation of certain colours in the Mughal palette allowing dating. “One of these that makes its appearance is Indian yellow – a transparent yellow pigment that gives a deep luminescent yellow. It was probably developed in India, as it does not occur previously in Iranian painting. It was manufactured in rural India from the urine of cows fed a diet of mango leaves and water. The urine was collected and dried; the resulting solid matter was formed into balls of raw pigment, called piuru or peori.

The peori was then washed in water and purified, separating the yellow and greenish tints. Interestingly, the first known uses of Indian yellow appear in the illustrated manuscript Harivamasa and in the Akbarnama, dating from about 1590. Its finely divided particles and high tinting strength made it ideal for mixing with indigo to depict foliage; it was also used as an under-painting to ‘lift’ the appearance of other colours. The pigment is easy to detect under ultraviolet light, as it is fluorescent. It is curious that such a pungent and repulsive material can help to evoke such serenity”

Stylistic Innovation

Simultaneous to this show is another show called Contemporary Crossings by the twin Singh Sisters of Liverpool. Born and raised in Liverpool the twins were outside the general pattern of lifestyle in Britain and were raised in a Sikh household with its rituals. After pursuing academia, they turned to art, where their Western teachers berated them for following the miniature tradition of India. Subverting determinedly, they stuck on to become great stars in the field of contemporary art, sticking to being inspired by the miniature. The sisters work separately and together but stylistically are almost seamless. Amrit and Rabindra Singh fill small details within the narrative of their work, some personal, some political and then the process itself of creating a work is fascinating. Using symbols, metaphors and computer aided design they format their work.

In “All that I am” they depict their father’s story from a childhood flying kites in Amirstar to his coming to UK and then working through hardship and his eventual doctorate. Amongst these are a series of related images and details that are drawn from the Indian tradition.

Exhibitions like this show us that art of different genres and times reinvents and rejuvenates itself and it is this multicultural celebration that must allow us a moment of transnational cultural triumph as more participants enter this stream of art that is timeless.

Splash of emotions Paintings by Dhiraj Choudhary and G.A. Dandekar

The works of G.A. Dandekar and Dhiraj Choudhary are a brilliant combination of quasi-abstract and figurative expressions

Artists express visually their response to the world or the experiences of the responses. In doing so, they develop a visual language that allows them to also engage with their feelings and emotions.

At Artworld, the paintings of two senior artists/teachers are showcased, and both of them have articulated themselves through lines and colours, offering visuals that powerfully impact upon the viewers’ sensibility. The two artists are Mumbai-based G.A. Dandekar and Delhi-based Dhiraj Choudhary.

Commonality of elements

Interestingly, the commonality of elements in their works brings alive the walls of the gallery space, marking the former as quasi-abstract and the latter as figurative.

Choudhury’s artistic language is based on line and colour, with the inspiration for his colours coming from his teacher Gopal Ghosh. They are vibrant, dramatic, intense, and passionate, applied directly on the canvas without prior mixing or blending on the palette.

It is no wonder his canvases vibrate with chromatic intensity that compulsively draws the attention of the viewer for a closer scrutiny. His ubiquitous line dominates the composition while his attenuated figures have expressionistic contours.

His passion and commitment manifest themselves in his oeuvre. His early works feature impressionistic watercolours and oils of ruralscapes, moving on to developing designs in the 1970s and then to highlighting social causes pertaining to women, caste, environment, terror and communal disharmony in the 1980s. Dandekar’s paintings in acrylics, oils, and mixed media foreground the strength of Indian culture.

With M.F. Husain, S.H. Raza, Picasso and Matisse as his muses, Dandekar has defined the versatility of his artistic contours through kaleidoscopic colours.

He says, “my intention is to reflect various emotions, love particularly and to show power, progress, fecundity through metaphors such as a horse or a bull.”

Robust colours

His works captivate the viewer, initially through robust and dynamic colours, offering a visual path that ultimately rest on forms that are both massive and attenuated. An inherent duality manifests in his works, emerging through contrasts in the play of light and juxtaposing of colours. The textures created through brush strokes and tonal contrasts give his works vibrancy.

Dandekar expresses his fascination for the culture of the South through women dressed in attires typical to the region and plantain trees. His simple narrative and visual language are endearing.

The show is on at Artworld till July 31.

In an attempt to keep fit in his busy life, 24-year-old software engineer Naveen Kumar Chaudhari works out thrice a week at a gym near his house. On Monday, when he visited his gym, he noticed something amiss: instead of the stark grey walls which line the corridors, the area between the work-out machines and the changing rooms was filled with works of art.

“The idea is to bring art to the people, rather than the other way around. Only a very select, elite group of people visit art galleries. We want art to be a part of people’s daily lives,” says Niki Lawyer of India Online Gallery, who strongly feels that spirituality gets reflected through art.

Since July 17, India Online Gallery has been showcasing the works of 14 artists, mostly based in Maharashtra, at Gold’s Gym, Kalyaninagar. The works of Umberto, an artist from Italy who is now settled in Pune, deal with making a form out of waste glass, while the others are mainly paintings or photographs.

Chaudhari, who quite likes the idea, says, “A lot of youngsters visit gyms. What is really impressive about the idea is that different people can interpret the art works in their own way. Similarly, the artists too would also have their own perspective.” Chaudhari also feels that this is a brilliant way of roping in the younger crowd.

Shyam Bhutkar, one of the artists whose works are being displayed, says that such efforts should take place so that everyone is allowed the freedom to develop a love for art. The painter feels that his vast experience in theatre has helped him look at effects (like light) differently in his art. Muralidhar Nagare, an established artist whose works are on display, says, “The earnings we make from art galleries constitute the mainstay of our income. Still, few people visit galleries. To display our works at public spaces is a good way of connect with the masses.”

Canaaz of Gold’s Gym feels that this is a great way to motivate the public. She says, “The gym will now be a one-stop destination for keeping fit and learning about art.”

Educating people about art is topmost on Lawyer’s mind too. “People look at paintings as paint on canvas, rather than an idea or force pulsating through the medium. Few Indians look at art as an investment. Meanwhile, in the west, the worth of the works of masters run into millions of dollars,” she says, ruefully. Moreover, here, only a select, elite group buys paintings. Sanjay Bhalerao, an upcoming artist, says, “However, my paintings are, with their stark contrasts, pleasing to the eye, so I hope somebody from the non-art world will find them pleasing enough to hang on their wall! And it’s there that the love of art starts.” His wife Deepti Munot is an artist in her own right. She adds, “This is a good way to reach out to more people, and perhaps increase our sales.”

The India Art Summit is set to get bigger in its third year with more countries expected to participate and the number of exhibiting galleries doubling from previous year in the event scheduled to be held here in January 2011.

Held annually in August since 2008, the third edition of the art fair would take place in the national capital from January 21-23 next year. This, organisers say was done to enable India find a permanent slot on the global art fair map.

With 84 galleries shortlisted out of 150 for the edition, and the inclusion of 34 leading international galleries (double the number that participated in 2009), India’s importance as an emerging global centre for art is further confirmed, organisers said in a statement.

Top galleries from around the world will include Lisson Gallery (UK), Sundaram Tagore Gallery (Hong Kong), Galerie Kashya Hildebrand (Switzerland), Aicon Gallery (US) Grosvenor Gallery (UK), Thomas Erben Gallery (US), Galerie Frank Elbaz (France), Die Galerie (Germany), The Drawing Room (The Philippines), Greenaway Gallery (Australia), and others.

“We are thrilled to be back at this exciting event and privileged to play a role in the internationalisation of the Indian art world,” says Michelle D’Souza, Director, Lisson Gallery which is returning for the third time.

At the last fair there were over 40,000 visitors and a total sales of Rs 260 million according to estimates given by the organisers.

The total area of the art fair has increased almost two-fold to approximately 8000 sq metre of exhibition space, and the total number of galleries has increased by 55 per cent from the previous edition.

“We’re very pleased with the quality of galleries that have been selected and the breadth of Modern and Contemporary Art that will be presented at the upcoming fair” says Neha Kirpal, Director, India Art Summit.

“India has never seen this selection of art and galleries come together from around the world, I’m very excited to see that our country’s art fair is shaping up to be of a truly international standard,” says Shireen Gandhy, Gallery Director, Mumbai.

The third edition would see a greater curatorial focus in the gallery booth plans with strong group shows in the general exhibition section, and individual artist displays in the new solo projects section of the art fair.

Further, an extended sculpture park surrounding the entire art fair venue at the Pragati Maidan here and the dedicated spaces for video and performance art is expected to give galleries a much wider stage to present an array of art practices and mediums.

Bonar portrays many episodes in the war, including “Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence.”

Scenes of battle, bloodshed and cannonball blasts abound at the Late Show gallery this month.

Self-taught Missouri artist Harlan Bonar is a Civil War enthusiast. He has done a lot of reading on the subject and has visited some of the historical sites.

Combining his interest in the period with his artistic aspirations, Bonar began a series of Civil War oil paintings on canvas more than two decades ago.

Thirty-eight of those paintings are on view in an exhibit that demonstrates Bonar’s raw fervor to tell an epic tale of human struggle.

“The Bombardment of Fort Sumter” kicks off the show with an exciting depiction of the event that initiated the war. It features the fort in the harbor of Charleston, S.C., getting hit by a barrage of Confederate artillery under a black cloud of smoke. In the center of the composition, the U.S. flag defiantly flies amid the explosions.

“The Battle of Antietam: Bloody Lane” illustrates the bloodiest engagement of the war. Beneath a tree with bare branches, soldiers fire rifles from a winding trench. Too bad the artist passed up the opportunity to make the painting live up to its title. Although bodies are shown scattered across the Maryland fields, there is little blood.

“The Battle of Hampton Roads” presents one of the series’ few maritime scenes. It beautifully portrays the stalemate between the U.S.S. Monitor and C.S.S. Virginia. In the turbulent blue water, traditional and ironclad warships hash it out to no avail; in the sky, feathery pink and orange clouds form a calm contrast to the conflict below.

Bonar’s works are absolutely striking for their energy and their vivid colors, but they also have limitations. For example, his clouds can appear heavy and overworked. His foliage can appear unnaturally green.

On the rare occasions Bonar scales his figures up, as he does in “Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence,” his difficulties with the human form are more apparent. Hands are a bit contorted, and heads are disproportionate to torsos.

Many of Bonar’s pictures are painted in such a way that every detail is given equal treatment. As a result, they can be visually overpowering.

Compare his depiction of the Battle of Gettysburg, replete with countless lethal confrontations, to mostly self-taught American artist Winslow Homer’s 1862 Harper’s Weekly wood engraving. In Homer’s print, which depicts a cavalry charge, effects of light and atmosphere emphasize the primary action in the foreground.

Deftly wrapping up the show, “The Surrender at Appomattox” portrays the episode that brought the war to a close. Against a picturesque landscape, the ranks of Ulysses S. Grant stand victoriously before Robert E. Lee’s soldiers, some of whom loaf around barefoot.

One has to ask: What, besides personal passion, compels an artist to draw on the Civil War as a source of inspiration?

Bonar said he wanted to create art about a period that had much to do with who we are as a country today.

The calendar was started to promote Indian artists and Indian designs and so, for their maiden effort in 2009 they pooled in the talents of 12 artists from across India to contribute a page each. “We sent mails to a bunch of friends and got them excited about the concept,” explained Anek, and the artists were given a free reign to come up with their design. With the limited exposure that artists get in India, this was a good opportunity for them to showcase their work and get recognition.

The Mumbai-based graphic designer and illustrator Mira Malhotra said, “There are very few businesses and festivals in India, so artists’ and designers’ generally get limited exposure. Getting recognition for their work is another plus point; when working as a graphic designer in a design studio or company, you lose your individuality.”

Promoting Indian art

The calendar is also a timely undertaking, no pun intended, in its promotion of Indian art; according to ad-man Melvin Jacob, ancient and art-heavy India has forgotten some of its artistic sensibilities over the years. The theme for the first calendar was India and the artists got to present their own vision of their motherland. For Melvin inspiration for such a theme is looking out the window or taking a walk. “We didn’t want the conventional picture,” he said drawing attention to their main idea ‘contradiction’. “Like the ancient beliefs that make India tick, the country always has various forces working against each other to fuel a very unique country,” he said about their October 2009 contribution.

Mira on the other hand, wanted to reflect the diversity of the languages here in India. “Inspiration came from the multitude of languages we have here, with dialects and sub-dialects,” she said. “I doodled a drawing which was later converted digitally, and that became the final result, a woman speaking in many tongues/dialects,” she explained about her February 2009 design.

Artistic freedom

Coordinating 12 different artists can be quite a big headache though, Anek says, “The biggest challenge was getting them to submit their designs on time.” For the first year, the WMD guys put out the theme, screened the artists’ work and coordinated the print work and other processes.

Their second project was more of a portrayal of Chennai and also of the company and its abilities; after sifting through local artists, they finally selected one who did basic pencil sketches of local sights. The guys then took it from there, filling all the art, colour manipulation, additional graphics and copywriting.

Their end product is not for sale though, but mostly distributed by the members to their social networks. “I also left them in bars for circulation, handed them out for free, to some people on Facebook, all just to bring the hype of the calendar art,” elaborated Anek.

Anbu, a bank consultant, was one who got both calendars through Facebook. “I liked the idea, that artists are given the space to do what they want,” “I also liked that they mixed illustrations with real photos. It’s very quirky,” he said.

Not only have they won fans, the boys’ hard work also culminated in getting the silver Davey award for their 2009 calendar. And their ambition shows no signs of abating; next up, is an online community for more Indian artists to showcase their work. There will be an online voting system too, so more people can be involved in selecting the finest works for the 2011 calendar.

For its increasing spotlight on Indian artists and art by a home-grown company, it sounds like the Indian Bred calendar is growing to live up to its name and be Indian-bred through and through.

Zakkir Hussain’s work documents the culture of cruelty

103°C Yellow Fever is a rude shock. It is so blatantly violent and absolute that one is forced to question the system that it so ruthlessly decimates. The artist’s portrayal of our country in shades of blood and brutality under the weight of a consistent yellow tone is effective.

Walter Benjamin said there is no document of civilisation which is not at the same time a document of barbarism; Zakkir Hussain in this show documents this ‘culture of cruelty’ which has increasingly become India.

In this exhibition Hussain discusses ‘people’s exile’ in their own country, symbolised by the recurring image of people running over a bridge with roots attached to them. The image of an abattoir with rows of naked, decapitated female bodies hanging from clothes hangers jolts you.

“I have just explored the reality of our country,” says Hussain in his defence. He confronts the viewer through the torsos of the female bodies. “ You see things in yellow, which represents the monolithic cultures that have been imposed on us,” says the artist from Kerala.

His studio is based in Mattancherry, Kochi . The area more popularly called Jew Town is a site of confluence for culture which has inspired Zakkir, “It is a place of gatherings, incidents and images.”

His thought process begins with the news. “I start with an idea picked up from a news story and according to the demand of the painting, the visual approach changes.” .

All his works are connected and one spills over into the other, violence and unrest being his leitmotif. He takes pressing issues such as the Godhra riots, and makes them the subject of his canvas.

One of Hussain’s paintings show the outline of India and a lotus being swallowed whole by the Gujarat region of the country, and in another sketch we see a serpentine tongue emerging from the same region.

“My work has no linear narrative, it all depends on the human imagination,” explains Hussain. The female form inspires this artist in a way that is tragic in its poignancy. He draws on the concept of woman as earth, and how earth and woman have become a part of exploitation. Hussain has exhibited his works widely across the globe in Vienna, Madrid, New York and Dubai.

His international audience is very receptive to his work, “It was unbelievable how well they understood my work,” he says. He refers to Gerard Richters’ series of paintings titled “18 October 1977”, which are repainted photographs of the Baader Meinhof and says, “He concentrated on his time, took images from there and recreated it and they became international.”

The artist considers himself an observer of life and treats his imagination like a laboratory, although he has not always had it this easy.

When he was still a struggling artist he used to take tuitions for children and young adults in art. The artist who also has a keen interest in photography takes images of life and symbols of the system, which also inspires him in his work.

INTUITIVE: Shailaja (right) believes a calm mind is conducive to creativity.

Hong Kong-based artist Shailaja Gidwani talks of her first solo art show

The crowd was sizeable and unusually punctual, and Galerie De’ Arts founder and Creative Head Deepa Subramanian was understandably delighted. The inauguration of Hong-Kong based artist Shailaja Gidwani’s exhibition From Hong Kong to India was attended by some of the city’s well-known artists, serious buyers and the merely curious.

For Shailaja who was born in Bangalore and educated in India before settling in Hong Kong, this was an exciting homecoming especially because this is her first solo exhibition not just in the city but in India.

Always inclined to art, she studied interior-decoration and design in Mumbai followed by a course in lettering and typographic design at St Martins School of Art, London.

Shailaja, who calls herself an intuitive artist, explains the creative process: “I am inspired by nature, landscapes, arresting scenery –– to all of which I add my own imagined elements. I spend time meditating. I take out some quiet moments with myself. This gets my thoughts in order and also helps because a calm mind is conducive to creativity. ”

In that sense, there is a spiritual dimension to her work and she approves when you call her paintings meditative impressions. Shailaja works from a sense of joy and passion.

Her muse is nature and her favourite medium is water-colours but she also employs monotypes, acrylics and collagraphs. Her paintings are brightly hued, vibrant impressions of rolling hills, sunrises, sunsets, water-bodies, greenery, blue skies…which exude a sense of tranquility. She explains how one of her paintings, Dawn, happened. “I was inspired by the amazing energy which the sunrise exudes and how the surroundings soak in and share that wonderful energy and transmit it back to the sun.” The exhibition “From Hong Kong to India” is on at Galerie De’ Arts, Barton Centre, M.G. Road, till August 7.

What became denigrated as calendar kitsch is now enjoying a revival among collectors of academic realism.

At first sight, you could be fooled into believing that these paintings have the signature of the same studio, though the only thing they have in common is their content. Early 20th century artists from India’s art schools were trained in a style that has since come to be identified as academic realism. Whether it was Hemen Mazumdar who bound his loyalty to the romantic Bengal school, or the court painter S G Thakur Singh, they could not but pay obeisance to the style that was all the rage among the buying cognoscenti.

Already, the stirrings of a bolder modern and Indian idiom were being felt, and in another decade they would sweep aside the sentimental idyll of realism. But the twenties and thirties were given to the pursuit of Indian art that had its origins in Western ideology. Begun by Raja Ravi Varma, the bath became a way of both titillating as also creating legitimacy around the semi-nude body. Ravi Varma concerned himself with ladies preparing for their bath, thus his Begum’s Bath and Preparing for the Bath included the process of disrobing. Later artists brought in a process of eroticisation with religion thrown in for good measure. Women in general, but particularly in Bengal, are known to offer their prayers at a temple followed by a ritual dip in the water tank clad in nothing but a simple, white saree. When wet, the cotton fabric turns transparent and clings enticingly to the body. Voila! Here was a way to bring what could otherwise have been considered prurient into a gentleman’s drawing room.

The subject became such a favourite, it still has followers in street art, but at the time it was taken up as a challenge by the likes of Mazumdar and Thakur Singh, who used it to show off their skills. Their inspiration lay in the West where the painting of nudes was a valid subject, but which in India would have caused a scandal — as, indeed, Amrita Sher-Gil’s works did, though her body of work in India was vastly different from her salon style in Europe.

About Mazumdar, enough is known — but S G Thakur Singh? In a sense, Thakur Singh subsumed his identity as court painter to the Indian government, losing therefore his popularity in a free market. Born in 1899, and winner of such awards as the Simla Fine Arts Society first prize in 1915, and the second prize from the British Empire Exhibition in London in 1924 (ironically for the first of his After Bath series), he was the quintessential court artist who accepted commissions from princely families and counted several maharajas as well as Lord Irwin and Lord Linlithgow among his patrons. He accepted museum and institutional commissions — for which he employed trainee artists to assist in his atelier, a fact he was loath to share publicly. He became popular for his portraits, his studies of womanhood where the subject was objectified, as well as his landscapes which tended towards the sentimental; his still-life compositions, somewhat more abundant than necessary, remain his weakest.

On his death in 1976, his estate passed to his son, S Paramjeet Singh, and is currently handled by his US-based grandson Harsimran Singh who is hoping to create awareness of his legacy. That this coincides with a revival of interest in the academic realism of the early twentieth century is happenstance, yet Thakur Singh, whose works hang at Rashtrapati Bhawan, will not have an easy task gaining that recognition. Because most of his work was based on commissions, precious little of it is in the public domain, and almost none of it was exhibited. As a result, posterity has not been kind and his scholarly value remains obscure and is still debatable.

Osian’s auctioned his 11” x 19” Sunset for Rs 10 lakh (against an estimate of Rs 6-9 lakh) in March this year, while an earlier lot from a 2008 sale, estimated at Rs 16-20 lakh, remained unsold. After Bath, shown on the estate website, has an estimated value of Rs 60-70 lakh, which appears steep (other works are more modestly valued), but Thakur Singh’s grandson argues that the “expert” pricing is based on the values of the best-known artists of that period, such as Jamini Roy and Abanindranath Tagore. He also makes the claim that the works on the site are “superior, in much better condition, bigger in size” and among the late artist’s “favourites”.

The family may not be in a hurry to flog his works, but Thakur Singh’s current opportunity lies among newer museums that need to fill in the chronological gaps in Indian art, collectors who have sensed the romance in the academic realism genre, and among the Sikh diaspora. But a scholarly review might be even more important if his bathing ladies are to find their due place in the art history of the country.

These views are personal and do not reflect those of the organisation with which the writer is associated.

Announcing the fair Tuesday, the organisers of the summit said 84 galleries – including 34 international ones – will be exhibiting art in the fair Jan 21-23, 2011 at Pragati Maidan here.

The summit, earlier slated for July 2010, was postponed by six months to January 2011.

It will host galleries from 20 countries including Canada, France, Germany, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, UAE, Britain, US and Australia.

The list of international galleries features niche art houses like Lisson Gallery (London), Sundaram Tagore Gallery (Hong Kong), Galerie Kashya Hildebrand (Zurich), Aicon Gallery (New York), Grosvenor Gallery (London), Thomas Erben Gallery (New York), Galerie Frank Elbaz (Paris), Die Galerie (Frankfurt), The Drawing Room (Makati City, Philippines), Greenaway Gallery (Adelaide) and several more.

The final shortlist of 84 galleries was chosen by the selection committee from a pool of over 150 applicants from India and around the world, the organisers said.

‘We are pleased with the quality of galleries that have been selected and the breadth of modern and contemporary Art that will be presented at the upcoming fair,’ said Neha Kirpal, director of the India Art Summit.

The 2011 fair will be spread across approximately 8,000 square metres of exhibition space, nearly double that of the 2009 summit. The total number of galleries has increased by 55 percent from the previous edition.

Returning for the third edition of the fair, Michelle D’Souza, director of the Lisson Gallery, said: ‘We are thrilled to be back and privileged to play a role in the internationalisation of the Indian art world.’

Kirpal said: ‘With leading Indian galleries coming together again for the third year, the art summit continues to build on its position as the country’s premier art fair platform of modern and contemporary art.’

‘India has never seen this selection of art and galleries come together from around the world. I am excited to see that our country’s art fair is shaping to be of truly international standard,’ said Shireen Gandhy, director of the Mumbai-based Chemould Prescott Gallery.

The latest edition of the summit will see greater curatorial focus in the gallery booths with ‘strong group shows in the general exhibition section and individual artist displays in the new solo projects section of the fair’, the organisers said.

An extended Sculpture Park surrounding the venue and dedicated spaces for video and performance art will give the galleries wider stage to present an array of art practices and mediums, Kirpal said.

The top Indian galleries that will take part in the fair include Apparao Gallery (Chennai), Art Alive (New Delhi), Art Gallery 88 (Kolkata), Birla Academy of Art & Culture (Kolkata), Chatterjee & Lal (Mumbai), Chemould Prescott (Mumbai), CIMA Gallery Pvt Ltd (Kolkata), Experimenter (Kolkata), Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke (Mumbai) and Nature Morte (New Delhi) amongst others.