Ashish Thapar’s artwork collection focuses on modernists beyond mainstream- The Week

It was back in the early 20th century that India saw the emergence of modern art in the country. Popular Indian artists from this period are Jamini Roy, Francis Newton Souza, Nandalal Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, among others.

However, Ashish Thapar’s collection of artworks at the Thapar Gallery also recognises “lesser-known artists and sculptors” like Abdul Aziz Raiba, Haku Shah, Jangarh Singh Shyam, Sadanand Bakre, and B. Vithal. “These artists are well-known academically, regionally and in the art circles, but are lesser-known nationally,” said Thapar, who is also the director of the gallery. He further added that “these senior modernists contributed vastly to Indian art and culture”, however, their heritage remained hidden.

“There are 32 paintings and 6 sculptures on display,” Thapar told THE WEEK. The exhibition is divided into four sections, “each covering a different genre of art”. First section is the early modernists’; the second section features tantric and abstract figures, along with still-life and landscape paintings. Third, about figurative folk and tribal art, and fourth is dedicated to sculptures.

The paintings featured include S.H. Raza’s ‘OM’, Ghulam Rasool Santosh’s “neo-tantric” painting of Kali, Krishen Khanna’s portrait of ‘tea drinker’; watercolour artwork of Ramkinkar Baij, and others.

Krishen Khanna’s ‘Bandwala’ series consists of three paintings. The ‘bandwalas’ or musicians—in their typical red attire—“almost appear detached and introspective”. In contrast, a blue bandwala has a rather peculiar presence. Khanna used thick impasto strokes to highlight shadows, and to outline figures.

With a “luminous” palette of red, golden, brown, and yellow, G.R. Santosh used oil on canvas to draw geometric shapes. His paintings give a sense of spiritual abstraction. Santosh, born in Srinagar, was enormously influenced by tantra and Indian spirituality.

Other oil paintings in the gallery are works of Sakti Burman, M.F. Husain, Sadanand Bakre, Haku Shah, Ram Kumar, Abdulrahim Appabhai Almelkar and B. Prabha. The six sculptures comprise the bronze works by Laxma Goud, B. Vithal and Sankho Chaudhuri. Chaudhuri’s fibreglass statues are also featured.