Page 13 - Eye of the beholder

The Third eye:
The eye of The beholder
DR. ASHRAFI S. BHAGAT
The collection of artworks in the possession of erudite and knowledgeable art collectors Dr. Anirban Sadhu and Dr. Rejina Sadhu based in Basel, Switzerland has the romance of nostalgia in revisiting the past, which offers new aesthetic freshness in the present. The collection of almost eighty works spans the period from the dawn of history at Mohenjodaro to the 21st century. The collection spans a wide variety of genres – ranging from sculptures, oil paintings, watercolors, Indian miniature paintings, photographs, prints, aquatints etc. There is impressive diversity in the attributions and authorship too. The Bengal school is very strongly represented, with works from most of the prominent artists in the collection. There is also strong representation by many of the early artists of the Bombay school. Artists from the colonial period – both Indian as well as European – find mention. However, a major part of the collection is occupied works of anonymous authorship like miniature paintings, company school paintings and other similar works that can only be attributed to a school. Modern Indian art works retrospect from artists of the latter half of 19th century who were academic realists as Trindade, Lalkaka, Gangooly, Abalal Rahiman among others to modernists of 20th century as D. P. Roy Chowdhury to Gaganendranath and Jamini Roy to other seminal Indian modernists as Ganesh Pyne and F. N. Souza. The works have been collected with a certain sensibility that reflects the Collectors’ couple deeper understanding and their seminal contribution within the artists’ cultural context. The names are iconic and represent the movers and shakers within Modern Indian art. The collection does not reflect a conscious artistic uniformity, but celebrates art as a manifestation of shifting moods, modes and memories in Indian Art.
Within this broad category it is possible to make categorization of the subject. The two classifications would be Historical and Modern. Under the umbrella of the Historic would be the Indian Miniature paintings, Early Bengal oils, Company Paintings and Paintings executed by British artists who documented India’s flora and fauna, the historical monuments, war events and the scenic landscapes with mountains, valleys and rivers. While modern would enlist artists from late 1890s to about 2000.
BEGININGS OF MODERNITY: EARLY BENGAL OILS
Painting on cloth or wood as a substrate was not a traditional medium of expression in Indian art. Nor were oil based paints traditionally popular with Indian artists. The initiation of modernity in Bengal was partly due to the presence European artists and later mainly because of the establishment of the Calcutta School of Art in 1854 which adopted European techniques and idioms of expression. This art school became pivotal in shaping the art language of the 19th century as well as at the turn of the 20th century. It was also partly because of the Bengal renaissance that witnessed a cultural interface and symbiosis of the East and the West. Yet more importantly was the city of Calcutta [Kolkata] playing a catalytic role in shaping the intellectual and artistic life of the region. This was because of the emergence of new literature,
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