Contemporary wind - group show of paintings at Raja Ravi Varma art gallery
Contemporary Wind, an exhibition organized by Romartika Art Decoded, showcasing paintings by nineteen emerging artists is taking place at the Raja Ravi Varma Art Gallery in Pune from the 14th to the 19th of May 2024. The show is inaugurated by distinguished artists Prakash Ambegaonkar and Zen Vartan. Saikat Baksi, an author and art enthusiast known for the popular podcast about socio-political and psychological aspects of art, "Art Beyond Canvas," curated the exhibition.
Every artist in the exhibition presents a unique style and content. Aprit Vyas's Pop-inspired artworks surprise the viewers with their vibrant color palette. Onjali M Prasada's unique portrayal of women's faces conveys deep sorrow and wild joy simultaneously. Preeti Anand and Alka C Singh's abstract landscapes transport viewers into a mysterious world of mystic charm. Kranti Desai’s depiction of the eastern theological worldviews on canvas is highly engaging. Landscapes by Nilanjana Roy, Gitanjali Sengupta and Ena Saini offer impressionistic charm. Sulochana Gawde's lifelike depiction of ancient sculptures breathe life into the painted rocks. Jiban Krishna’s pen and ink works are mysteriously thought provoking. Brinda Nilesh’s infusion of tribal style into mythical backdrop pulsates with innocent vitality. Resshma Valliappan’s abstracts are testimony to the whirlwind of passion in the human mind. Indian classical and modern distortion merge in perfect rhythm on Kavita Tambolkar’s canvas. Saikat Baksi's surrealistic paintings lead the viewers on a mysterious quest to uncover the truths of life. Shagun Lathi’s naturalistic paintings are engaging in a nostalgic way. Zahra Ansari and Rishi Baksi’s paintings are leading indicators of art in the world of tomorrow. Harmony of forms and color dance on the canvases of Poulami Jagtap.
Eminent artists, Sharad Tarde and Suchita Tarde will engage in deep analysis with the artists about their artworks. It is an unmissable visual treat for art lovers.
From: 14th to 19th May 2024, Romartika Art Decoded presents
“Contemporary Wind” A Group show of paintings by 19 emerging artists
Ramesh Deshmane had his art education at Govt. School of Art, Aurangabad followed by an advanced course at Sir J.J. School of Arts, Mumbai. He presented his work based on various themes in several leading art galleries at Pune, Aurangabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Nagpur, Amravati, Nashik etc., and received good public response for his art presentations in solo and group art exhibitions. A proud recipient of many appreciations and awards from renowned art promotional institutions of national and international reputations, he has also actively participated in several art workshops at Mumbai.
His works are in proud collection of many reputed art collectors and art promotional institutions of global reputations in India and abroad, the prominent amongst them being Rallis India, Mumbai, WMI Power Plants Mumbai, Centaur Hotel, Mumbai, Hotel Rama International, Aurangabad, NABARD Bank, Indian Oil Corporation, Mumbai, Mr. Vijay Darda, Mr. Dinesh Vazirani – Saffron Art Gallery, Mumbai and many more. His works are also in proud collection of many art collectors in Italy Paris, U.S.A., Germany, Hongkongetc. Ramesh Deshmane has been conducting Online drawing and painting classes for last 2 years by exploring and experimenting with newer techniques using his emotional intelligence and supervision as well as proper motivations. He conducts drawing and painting classes and guides student for elementary and intermediate grade drawing examinations. He also organises art exhibitions of his students by proper guidance and motivation to them to present their work before the clients/ collectors. He has been awarded by World Genius Records, Nigeria for his immense and incredible contribution to the field of drawing and painting. Apart from other noteworthy awards in this field, he has been duly honoured by the reputed World Genius Records, Nigeria which is truly a feather in his cap. He has been working as an Art Teacher in Shree Sanatan Dharma Vidyalaya & Junior College, Chembur, Mumbai for the last 26 years.
Recent Painting Ramesh Deshmane
The present work illustrates his drawings and paintings made in mix media, Charcoal on card paper, colour pencils on art paper, dry soft pastels on card paper, water colour on art paper etc. He has worked on a variety of themes using these vivid mediums in an expressive style. His works on Lord Ganesha in Charcoal, Soft Pastels, Colour Pencils etc., illustrate sanctity of religious fervour and its relevance for worshipping Lord Ganesha for seeking His blessing in the traditional cult of the worship before commencement of any work. His series on human relations revealing emotional attachment between a man and a woman inapt environments showcase the complexity of such relations in different circumstances. He has illustrated the sanctity of harmony of emotional relations amongst human beings in different environments and their relevance and sanctify for the well being and welfare of society. He has shown various emotions like joy, excitement, encouragement, anxiety, affinity, affection, pangs of separation etc., in sensitive human minds and the justification for their harmony for the betterment of their coexistence in society through close human bonds of affection and their harmonious hues in apt circumstances. The colourful expressions on their faces have a textural base and they thereby reflect an unmistakeable aura of the richness of self expressions. It is a skilful depiction of chairo-scuro expression by Joy-de viver. It represents a variety of masks worn by people in the society for various reasons. All works are unique and reveal the genuine artistic talent and creativity in the artist Ramesh Deshmane as well as his command over the mediums and skilful techniques used for the artistic and aesthetic adornment of his thematic works with the relevant hues on a sentimental plane.
From: 15th to 30th May 2024
“Harmony of emotional facial expressions” Solo show of Paintings by Renowned artist Ramesh Deshmane
Not long after graduating from the JJ School of art in 1959, Prabhakar Barwe took a designer’s job at the Weavers’ Service Centre, an organisation founded by Pupul Jayakar in Madras in the 1950s with the aim of bringing contemporary sensibilities to traditional crafts. By the 1960s, WSC had branches in a number of major cities, and Barwe was initially posted to Varanasi. The city’s traditions of faith deeply influenced his artistic practice even as he set about drawing patterns for local artisans to copy on fabric. The earliest painting in the present exhibition is a watercolour from Barwe’s ‘Tantric’ period. It employs some geometric patterns akin to his work as a designer, but overlays these with symbolic figuration. Specifically, it represents the ‘World Turtle’ or Vishnu’s Kurma avatar, and a bright sun against a background of mauve bands.
Untitled (Studio), Watercolor, Ink, Pastel and Pencil on Paper, 15 x 20.6 inches, 1991
The artist gained a transfer to the Bombay outpost of the Weavers’ Service Centre and the bulk of the drawings and watercolours in the show are designs created in his adopted hometown in the 1970s. The fact that we have such well-preserved examples of his professional practice is a sign that he and his admirers considered the pieces to have significance beyond the immediately utilitarian. Finally, we have three paintings created in the 1990s, not long before his untimely death in 1995. Two of these are characteristic of the style that has come to be recognized as inimitably his own. Created in mellow shades, the paintings gesture towards landscapes within which are placed objects out of proportion to their natural scale, evoking uncanny, dreamlike associations in viewers. These are paintings of an artist who has absorbed the lessons of abstraction, surrealism, Indian miniature painting traditions and of European masters like Paul Klee without being beholden to any of them.
The last painting is a relatively realistic depiction of an artist’s studio and of a building in which the studio is presumably housed. The modesty of the arrangement creates a mood of contentment, suggesting this is all an artist needs to be happy. Barwe himself adhered to a philosophy of simple living, one from which the art world has moved a great distance in the years since his death, heightening the sense of nostalgia contained in the painting.
About The Gallery
Akara blends the rich traditions of modern art with the innovations of contemporary practice. Nestled in the art district of Mumbai, Akara operates across two spaces: Akara Modern, one of the leading modern art galleries in India since 2015, and Akara Contemporary, a new platform for the current and next generation of South Asian and international artists. Across both galleries, Akara centres India and South Asia within the continuum of international art history and brings alternative narratives and realities to the foreground of global discourse. Through exhibition programming, artist representation, institutional partnerships, art fairs, gallery collaborations, and art advisory, from which it first was established in 2009, Akara aspires to transcend borders in its many forms, from the artistic to the geographic.
About the Artist
Prabhakar Barwe was born in Nagaon, Maharashtra, and graduated from the Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai, in 1959. During his stay in Varanasi, the holy city of India, between 1961 and 1965, he came into contact with the canon of Tantra (mysticism) that markedly influenced his work. Known as a symbolist and an abstractionist, Barwe’s multitudinous influences can be traced through the steady evolution of his works. His poetic sensibility combined with his representations of ordinary objects echoed the emotional and mystical associations he wanted to render into his works. The empty space and the use of dedicated minimalistic designs set apart Barwe’s works from his contemporaries. As a painter, he won an award instituted by the Japanese newspaper Yoshihari Shimbun. In 1976, he won an award at the annual exhibition of the Lalit Kala Akademi and in 1969, he was awarded the Yomiuri Shimbun Award from Japan. Barwe had his works exhibited in several shows including one at Wisconsin, U.S., in 1963; Indian Painters, Zurich, 1970; Grey Art Gallery, New York in 1975; International Biennale, Menton, France, 1976; Modern Indian Painting, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington in 1983 and more. Towards the end of his life, he wrote a book in Marathi called Kora Canvas (Blank Canvas), documenting his feelings, expressions, struggles, and satisfaction as an artist
Art & Soul presents "Conversing Social Tools," a multi-media exhibit by artist and professor Rajendra Patil/PARA that delves into the intersection of Art and Archaeology.
The conversations outline a symbiotic relationship shaped by a series of minimalist objective abstracts and raw sculptural forms, timeless and reflective of heritage retelling.
"Conversing Social Tools" by Rajendra Patil previews on Wednesday, 8th May, 5:30 pm onwards, along with a panel discussion on "Interoception in Abstract Art" with eminent artist Dilip Ranade, artist and researcher Nitin Kulkarni, and Para, uncovering the age of Abstracts.
For its milestone 100th auction, AstaGuru showcased an exquisite array of rare works from different periods of modern art. From works by esteemed early modernists such as Jamini Roy, J P Gangooly, Amrita Sher-Gil, Sailoz Mookherjea, and N S Bendre, as well as stalwarts of the Progressive Artists’ Group including F N Souza, S H Raza, M F Husain, K H Ara, and others, the auction showcased works from several revered artists who shaped the narrative of Modern art in India in 20th. The auction was held on April 27-28, 2024.
Siddanth Shetty, Chief Administrative Officer, AstaGuru Auction House, states that “We are thrilled to have reached this pivotal juncture in AstaGuru’s journey. The milestone auction is an important celebration and reflection on how over the years, AstaGuru has been at the forefront of fostering dialogue, appreciation, and acquisition of exceptional artworks. As it continues to evolve and innovate, AstaGuru reaffirms its position as a leading platform for collectors to acquire rare treasures from the oeuvre of Modern Indian Art. We hope to continue with our contribution in shaping the future trajectory of the art market within India and globally. Moreover, the landmark auction is a testament to the fact how works by Indian modernists are consistently sought after by collectors.”
The auction concluded with exceptional results and also created nine records. Here are some highlights of the world records created.
A work by British artist Benjamin Hudson was acquired by 71. 9 lakhs. The large scale painting is Hudson’s portrait of Rajah Pratap Chandra Sinha who belonged to the Sinha family of Paikpara.
A beautiful oil on canvas creation by artist J P Gangooly, was sold for 2.6 crores. A luminary of academic realism in Calcutta, artist Jamini Prakash Gangooly was a master painter known for his profoundly beautiful landscapes. Renowned for his exquisite portrayal of light and shade, Gangooly’s penchant for capturing the transient beauty of twilight hours set him apart.
A work by one of India’s Navratna artists Sailoz Mookerjea, also created a world record after being acquired for 1.2 cores. An early pioneer of modern painting, Sailoz Mookherje though his thematic focus remained rooted in rural Indian life and landscapes.
K K Hebbar
A beautiful painting depicting Krisha as a herdsman by K K Hebbar was acquired for a handsome value of 2.9 crores. Hebbar was first inspired by his father, who sculpted clay idols of Ganesha for festivities. His early introduction to traditional Indian painting and religious iconography folk art is evident in the presented lot, with his exploration of the iconic imagery of Krishna with his flute.
A work by artist A A Almelkar, lot no. 21, was acquired for 37 lakhs. Almelkar’s artistic lineage was steeped in the rich tradition of stylized “Indian” paintings, characterised by intricate detailing and influences from the miniature art tradition.
A record was also created for a painting, from the ‘Pastoral’ series by artist Anjolie Ela Menon. The series is inspired by the studio she works out of in Nizammudin and the sights surrounding it. Her observations and reinterpretations of the scenes she sees translate into iconic imagery that is now synonymous with Menon. This work was acquired for 1.3 crores.
A Neo-Tantric theme work by Biren De also achieved a world record after being sold for over 1 crore. Biren De’s ultimate goal throughout this exploration of consciousness was to arouse the psyche of not just himself but the viewers.
Another world record was achieved for a large scale creation, from Manu Parekh’s famous benares series which was sold for 2.3 crores. This series of paintings that first began nearly 30 years ago are an expressionist take on Banaras. The artist concerns himself with energies and urges his viewers to observe the world through the lens of emotions present in his paintings.
A record was also made for artist Gurcharan Singh with his large-scale creation being sold for 37.6 lakhs. Singh’s work explores the intricate relationships between diverse elements that shape our world. Significantly, his paintings consistently feature a recurring theme of juxtaposing animals with prostitutes, serving as symbolic representations that unveil the primal nature inherent in humanity.
The 100th auction also showcased works by several other artists, including Nicholas Roerich, Manjit Bawa, Akbar Padamsee, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Sakti Burman, Bhupen Khakhar, J Swaminathan, Ram Kumar, William Daniell, Paresh Maity, G R Santosh, B prabha, Ganesh Haloi, Satish Gujral, Bal Chhabda, Ganesh Pyne, K H Ara, and Rameshwar Broota amongst others. Please visit the AstaGuru to view the entire auction result.
Anjolie Ela Menon
About AstaGuru
AstaGuru Auction House was conceptualised in the year 2008 with the sole purpose of creating a safe and secure platform to conduct online auctions for Contemporary & Modern Indian Art. Over the years, AstaGuru has curated auctions encompassing diverse categories, our portfolio includes art, jewellery, fine silver, timepieces, textiles, celebrity memorabilia, rare books, numismatic, philately and vintage cars. In 2018, AstaGuru became the first Indian auction house to present an exclusive
edition for vintage and classic cars. “AstaGuru has strived to successfully bridge the gap between prospective buyers and consignors by transcending the limitations of live auctions. AstaGuru imparts effortless transparency to the process of acquiring and selling art and rare collectibles. The online module offers bidders the opportunity to bid from the comfort of their houses or while they are on the go.
A group art exhibition ‘Sankalp Art Fest’ showcasing the works of about 37 talented artists will be held at Namah Royal Banquet, Ganesh Temple, Gate No.3, Vajira, Borivali (West) (Opp. Don Bosco School), Mumbai on 4th and 5th May, 2024 from 10 am to 8 pm. It will be open for free public viewing. The artworks created by the participating artists in different mediums and styles using their skilful techniques will be displayed in the exhibition. This show will be organized by Rupali Mistry who will present her own artwork along with others in this exhibition.
Rupali Mistry - Curator
Vivid artworks to be presented in this exhibition include the beauty of nature in different seasons/ landscapes, realms of life, emotional mindscapes of young sensitive girls in conducive environments, urban and rural cityscapes, monuments and heritage religious shrines and places of worship along with the eternal atmosphere there and many more. These works will be in oil, water colours, Acrylic colours, Charcoal, pen and ink, itching and other mediums. The various styles adopted by the artists for their work include realistic, semi-realistic and abstract etc.
The vivid participating artists in this show are:-Rupali Mistry – Rupali Arts, Uma Joshi – Malhar_arts, Hansa Asher, Beena Joshi, Parth Raulkar, Sarvesh Patil, Prachi Kotkar- Creatureeye, Uushma Udeashi – Jarukho Arrt, Amruta Gharat, Sangeeta Wagle, Shreya Chichbankar, Janvi Gudekar, Namrata Shah - Art_by_Namz, Shruti Poojary, Hemangi Sukhadiya – Yesha’s Creation, Meghana Akerkar - Meghnart, Meghna Gothiwala, Snehal Gupta, Payal Vishwakarma, Paridhi Vora, Priti Arte, Swati Nazare –Prizm Art, Aarti Harsora – Mehendi Artist, Nishit Shah - Meraki Tees, Shweta S. – Sanisha Creations, Jayashree Pawar, Zuleika Tatary, Yashvi Shroff – Sangaath Creations, Shweta Shah – Treats and Ties, Lubna Mohammad – Rachaita Handcrafted Jewellery, Prajakta Aajgaonkar, Rupa Haridas, Vivina Sheirin, Bhavana Mehta, Sayani Mujumdar, Sunil Goyal.
Press Release
From: 4th & 5th May 2024 / Sankalp Art Fest Presents, / An Art Exhibition
VENUE: Namah Royal Banquet, / Ganesh Temple, Gate 3,
Vajira, Opp. Don Bosco School, Borivali(West), Mumbai.
Nature Morte is pleased to present a new body of work by the artist Lorenzo Vitturi. This is our second show with the artist having presented his solo show in our New Delhi gallery in 2022.
The fog envelops the lagoon and the architecture in the distance. I walk along the canal with Lorenzo after leaving his studio in Murano. We pause for a moment to look around. In the cold mist, the edges – of land, buildings, thoughts – loosen up. A flock of birds interrupts the opaque sky, drawing an endless line, a space with no frontier. This all feels fleeting and, at the same time, eternal. “It is the substance of an image”, says Lorenzo, as if to frame this vision in time.
It is this felt presence of the image, its corporeal dimension, and the tension between what is material and impermanent that pervades Lorenzo’s oeuvre. Much of his photographic and sculptural work emerges from everyday interactions and dialogues with local communities and artisans. It also results from the careful study, manipulation, and combination of materials that he selects based on their provenance as well as their cultural and historical narratives. In particular, the selection presented for “Metamorphosis” at Nature Morte in Mumbai traces back to the artist’s biographical roots in Italy and Peru, while unveiling the result of collaborations with artisans in Murano, Italy, at the Jaipur Rug Foundation in India, and indigenous communities in Chinchero, Peru. To enter the landscapes embedded in these works is an act of balance and reframing. From gigantic soft sculptures floating from above, to small and delicate still-lifes containing fractal patterns and geometries, the works play on different scales. The oversized dimensions and softness of the pieces invite us to compare our bodies with other volumes, our material with that of the sculptures, while pointing to other, beyond-human forms.
Murano-fused glass, Peruvian yarns, fishing nets, Indian hand-made rugs, eucalyptus wood, cocaine leaves: the materials become the silent protagonists that tell multi-layered stories about lived experience. These experiences are not only those of Lorenzo and the artisans involved in making the work, but also of those who look at the forms and see parts of themselves in them. To accompany the viewer, the nature of the materials is discernible from the captions – list-like, almost inventorial – as if to create new combinations aimed at subverting canonical classifications. Lorenzo also powerfully re-employs the tradition and knowledge of glass and textile – adaptable mediums often labelled in ‘Western art’ as craft – to imagine new visual languages and encounters between cultures. In a way, these ‘handmade visions’ recall what scholar Gloria E. Anzaldúa defines as a borderland: an emotionally-charged space where two or more cultures meet, where different social classes encounter one other, where people of different heritages inhabit the same locales. In these suspended sculptures, shapes and materials encapsulate gestures, valleys, rivers, and entire regions, creating new geographical configurations and emotional maps. By embracing and abstracting the language of cartographies, Lorenzo questions borders but, above all, attempts to transcend them, to move beyond what separates ‘us’ from ‘them’. Instead, he questions how the fortuitous exchanges that emerge from encounters (of people and materials alike) might be sites for transformation and new routes. Where will they lead us?
Lorenzo Vitturi (b. 1980, Venice, Italy) works in photography, sculpture, and installation. Following his experience as a cinema set painter, Vitturi builds temporary sets and ephemeral sculptures, in-studio and on location, using both organic and fabricated materials. Starting from specific geographical locations and encounters with local communities, his work explores informal economies and the merging of different cultures, focusing on the movement of objects and people in a globalised world. His recent solo exhibitions include Money Must Be Made at Fondazione MAST, Bologna, Italy; Nulla è Puro at Centre Photographique Rouen Normandie, Italy; Materia Impura at FOAM Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands; Dalston Anatomy at The Photographers’ Gallery, London, at Contact Gallery, Toronto, and at CNA, Luxembourg. Vitturi also participated to group exhibitions at MAXXI in Rome, at Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris, at Palazzo Reale and La Triennale in Milan, at BOZAR in Brussels, at K11 Art Museum in Shanghai, and at Barbican Centre in London. Vitturi’s latest book Money Must Be Made was published by SPBH Editions in September 2017. He currently lives between Venice, Italy and London, UK. The project has been realised in collaboration with Jaipur Rugs Foundation.
Text by Giulia Civardi
This exhibition will take place in Nature Morte’s Mumbai gallery space at 3rd Floor, Dhanraj Mahal, Apollo Bunder, Mumbai. The hours are Monday through Saturday from 11am to 7pm and the gallery is closed on Sundays. For more information on the artist or the works in the exhibition please visit our website at www.naturemorte.com or contact us at info@naturemorte.com.
The Kerala Lalithakala Akademi is thrilled to announce our third show in the retrospective artists series with the upcoming exhibition, titled “History Lab and the Elegy of Visceral Incantations,” which will showcase the remarkable paintings and sculptures of the renowned artist T V Santosh. Join us for the grand inauguration on May 1st, as the exhibition continues to captivate audiences until May 22nd at the prestigious Durbar Hall Art Gallery, Ernakulam.
On 7th January 2020, the Governor of Maharashtra, Bhagat Singh Koshyari presented the first ‘Vasudeo Gaitonde Kala Jeevan Puraskar’ (Life Time Achievement Award in the Field of Art) to Late Akbar Padamsee (posthumously) at the 60th Maharashtra State Art Exhibition held at Jehangir Art Gallery. An evening earlier, Akbar Padamsee passed away at the Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore. He was excited when he heard of receiving the award that was dedicated to him in the name of his artist friend Vasudeo Gaitonde who was his senior by few years at Sir J. J. School of Art.
Born on April 12, 1928, Padamsee’s ancestors hailed from Vāghnagar, a village in the Bhavnagar district of the erstwhile Kathiawar, now part of Gujarat. His grandfather was the sarpanch of the village and earned the title Padmashree or Padamsee after distributing his entire granary to the village during a famine. The family had belonged to Charana community, known as Deviputras (sons of the goddess). Charanas were essentially litterateurs and folklorist. Youngest amongst eight siblings, Akbar, as a child, stayed aloof and preferred to amuse himself with books. He also displayed an ardent interest in art that developed through photographs of gods and goddesses his nanny shared with him. The antique Irani furniture and flower vases that adorned his home also inspired him. At the age of four, he took to drawing in the margins of the account books and ledgers at his father’s shop of imported glass lanterns on Chakla Street, South Mumbai. In his primary school, he would draw caricatures on the black board before the class teacher would arrive, when the teacher would enquire, the classmates would point out to Padamsee, but she would never believe that such a young boy’s drawings had a mature finesse.
FN Souza with Raza and Padamsee in Paris in 1952. (Courtesy Bhanumati Padamsee)
Akbar Padamsee
He was 11 years old when he accidentally stepped on a rusted nail, leading to a serious injury. While the wound was cured, the psychological impact left him speechless. It was more the will to speak that had gone away. Apparently, he did not speak a word for about nine years. Instead, he focused his energies on reading and art. After his father passed away, his elder brother Nicky (Nurudin), eight years his senior served as a father figure and gave him a book on Freud’s Introductory Lectures on psychoanalysis, dream interpretations and the psychopathology of everyday life. Not quite realizing what it was about, it was like tasting in advance what was going to come. Padamsee reciprocated with the writings of philosophers like Heidegger, Sartre and the likes; he believed that thinking was a system before one could paint. The influence of this can be seen in his later works. He chose to study at Sir J.J. School of Art, but Nicky advised him to join St. Xavier’s High School. At St. Xavier’s High School, Fort, he had a very strange school life. He was a back-bencher and day-dreamer who was always ridiculed by his classmates over his speech impediment. During school examinations, his elder brother helped him study, and somehow saved him from the kind of education that was doled out in those schools. Later, he met his first mentor, drawing teacher Shirsat, a water colourist, who tutored him in the medium, wines in Khandala, and nudes at a special class at Charni Road, in preparation for his studies at the Sir J. J. School of Art, enabling him to join the course directly in its third year.
Image DAG
Padamsee’s years at the art school came at a time when a lot of undercurrents were passing through the Indian Art world, the most important being the formation of the Progressive Artist Group. He learned the academic style of painting that was popular in those times but did not restrict himself to just that. Even as a young adult, he enthusiastically learnt what was beyond the norm. He would skip classes and spend hours in the college library, pouring over books and acquainting himself with the work of the Masters. He was more interested in the science of art inspired by formal conundrums and conceptual schemes in approaching his work and would often investigate Durer’s drawings, Piero della Francesca’s studies for the curve of a queen’s neck – he had made a complex grid as if it were for a bridge. One day, he found T.A. Gopinath Rao’s Elements of Hindu Iconography in the library and was amazed by the precise directions that were given to the bronze sculptors. It was later at the school of art that he used the concept of the grid as geometry of proportion; however, it was at the elementary level. He also read a book on principles of Chinese painting. However, it was only later that he developed these ideas further .Of his early days spent at Sir J. J. School of Art, he once claimed: “In those days, learning painting in that tree-studded campus was a heady experience”. Professor Shankar Palshikar introduced him to miniature paintings and burnishing the surface with cowrie shell to spread the color evenly to get a glaze effect, but Padamsee would be lazy to do it all by himself. His early work during that year started with detailed study of heads, prophets and different couples. Padamsee’s subjects appeared astute with a pondering gaze. He disliked the sentimental and refused to submerge his figures with that feeling. This is why; even when he portrays his nude protagonists, they lack any outward sensuality. Padamsee studied French and his art teacher, Shankar Palsikar, encouraged him to study Sanskrit, which later became the basis of Padamsee’s thought process and the foundational structure for his art.
Krishen Khanna viewing Akbar’s late drawings in Delhi 2023
After his completing his diploma in painting, he took up sculpture for a year; one afternoon, when he was rhythmically beating the sheet metal with a hammer to make a relief sculpture. In the adjacent studio, another professor called Sabannavar, from the metal-craft department, was busy with his work. Suddenly, he barged into Padamsee’s space and asked him to stop work. The cause of the professor’s anger was the sound that the artist was producing while beating the sheet. He knew from the sound that Padamsee was doing something wrong. He asked Padamsee if he was disturbed, to which Padamsee replied with a yes. Padamsee was thus sensitized to the importance of sound in art-making. Later, he would apply this lesson an accidental insight to his pictorial practice. In an interview with Homi Bhabha, he recalls: “The professor’s interpretation intrigued me and I decided to experiment with sound. I took a very heavy aluminum holder in which I inserted a felt pen. I then dipped it in ink and started hitting on my drawing paper stretched on the board, really hard. Next, I tried this on my charcoal and oil works on canvas board and had a whole show around these works. I was going by the sound. Finally, an image would emerge, and it was often said that I painted with dots, but in reality I was painting with sound.”
Padamsee was a student associate, not a formal member, of the Progressive Artist Group, founded by F.N. Souza, with Raza and M.F. Husain as members, among others, with whom he developed a lifelong friendship. He along with Tyeb Mehta helped in installing works of the Progessives and other seniors like Mohan Samant. His father had a cyclostyle machine, with which he made copies of a catalogue of the show the Progressives had put up. That probably made him a blue-eyed boy. Later in 1948, an exhibition of paintings of student artists comprising of fifty artworks was organized by the Progressive Artist Group and was shown at the Bombay Art Society’s Salon. Francis Newton Souza, the then Secretary of the Progressive Artist Group said the exhibition was a novel idea and intended to draw attention of the public and art critics to the works of art students. Padamsee’s paintings were highly appreciated by the art critics.
AKBAR PADAMSEE / (1928 – 2020) Image www.saffronart.com
In 1950, a former student visited the school of art and showed interest in the works of the students. The senior was S.H. Raza. Padamsee told Raza that he was given third-class. Raza said he should have gotten a first-class with this work. Raza had received a scholarship to go to Paris and offered to take him along. Padamsee shared the news with Palshikar, who said he should see India first; next Padamsee brought himself a ticket to Madurai and visited the Meenakshi temple. Later in 1951 along with Raza he sailed to France, where Padamsee met the surrealist Stanley Hayter and started painting at a local studio, Atelier 17, and held his first show at Galerie Saint Placide in 1952. His first exhibition in Paris, which required artists to stay anonymous, saw Padamsee sharing the prize awarded for it by the French Journal d’Arte with the surrealist Carzou, then in his 40s. Thus began a never ending journey of honours and awards. He was featured in the 1959 Tokyo Biennale, he received a gold medal from the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1962 A fellowship by the Rockefeller Foundation in New York followed in 1965, and in 1969 the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship, he was bestowed by Padma Bhushan and Kailash Lalit Kala award in 2010. His figurative works from the 1950s gave way to bronze heads the human expression was a lifelong preoccupation of Padamsee to photography. Exhibitions have been held at institutions worldwide, including the Rubin Museum of Art in New York and London’s Royal Academy of Art.
By Unknown author – Pundole Art Gallery, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=106142413
Padamsee always approached his art with deep thought and intense focus, constantly pushing boundaries and innovating in his creative process. During his illustrious career, Padamsee explored a wide range of mediums, and managed to remain fiercely experimental and individualistic. His artistic oeuvre is a formal exploration of a few chosen genres — prophets, heads, couples, still-life, grey works, metascapes, mirror-images and tertiaries, across a multitude of media oil painting, plastic emulsion, water colour, sculpture, printmaking, computer graphics, films and photography. His early portraits and landscapes in varied mediums of painting, drawing and etching demonstrate a quasi-spiritual style of working. His oils have been characterised by a deep intensity and luminescence while his drawings exude a serene grace.
Akbar Padamsee has always been eclectic, drawing his inspiration from various sources. He spoke at length about the western and eastern philosophy, be it Paul Klee’s The Thinking Eye or Mammata’s Kavyaprakasha. He was on board with anything that helped him give an adequate structure to his own art. Never one up for an easy summing up of art, his work continues to take the viewers through an intense journey unmasking the mysteries of art, through his work and life. Quoting Padamsee’s favourite line from the Isa Upanishad, there’s formlessness about great poetry that moves you. Addressing the sun, the speaker says, ‘Remove the glare, so that I can look at you face-to-face because I’m the very person that’s yonder; I’m the sun myself. When the heat of the sun reaches me, let the body be reduced to ashes; but may the mind remember, remember, remember… Om shanti, shanti, shanti…’
Abhijeet Gondkar February 2020, Mumbai
Akbar Padamsee & Abhijeet Gondkar
(Abhijeet Gondkar is an independent writer and curator based in Mumbai. The above extracts are from inputs by Bhanumati Padamsee, Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation and further readings of Padamsee’s conversation with Homi Bhabha published by Marg. The above article was published as a tribute to Akbar Padamsee in ‘Roopa-Bheda’ 2019-20, an annual publication of Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai)
