Page 55 - Eye of the beholder

J P GanGooly [1876-1953]
Gangooly’s reputation lay in in in in in his skilled dexterity in in in in in rendering realistic and naturalistic painting that included mythological subjects as as as well as as as landscapes and and river scapes scapes He was also a a a a a a a a a a a sensitive portraitist rendering his his sitters with incisive precision This was the consequences of his essential training in in in in in in in oils from English and Bengali artists resulting in in in in in in in making him integral to the the formation of of the the new professional artists in colonial India In In a a a a a a a a sense Gangooly was privately tutored and not a a a a a a a product of of the Calcutta School of of Art He practiced his art during the the the late 19th century century to to the the the early 20th century century But his visibility was hampered due to to the the the consequences of nationalist and Neo Bengal Art Movements that took prominence in in the first decade of the 20th century Gangooly was born in in Jorasanko Thakurbari in in Calcutta the the aristocratic household of the the Tagore’s From a a a a a a a a young age he showed predilection towards art and was privately tutored by the English artist Charles Palmer whose art art training was from South Kensington In addition he also received tutoring from from Olito Ghilardi and and Gangadhar Dey and and later from from his uncle Abanindranath Tagore Gangooly consciously and with intense interest completed his training under Palmer and and mastered the art of rendering chiaroscuro or modelling in in in light and and shade with impressive brushwork that manifested later in his favored genre of landscapes and and river scapes He further developed and and perfected his his skills in in in oil painting and and exhibited his his virtuosity by rendering atmospheric river scapes creating moods and romantic scenes of peasant life He illustrated the the Sanskrit play Kadambari by Banabhatta which he he he dramatized on the the model of European History paintings These illustrations by by Gangooly were much appreciated by by Rabindranath Tagore who argued for a a a a a a a a a case of of developing in in in India a a a a a a a a a new genre of of history paintings but by gleaning out subject matter and and themes from mythology and and classical literature Tagore in in in in taking up the cudgels for Gangooly not only aided him in in in in establishing his his Western style oil painting as an an epitome of naturalism but also drawing his his themes and subjects from the rich reserve of pictorial images inherent in in ancient Sanskrit literature Tagore felt that that ‘picturesque’ images and metaphors in the passages of Kadambari that that Gangooly had illustrated were appropriate that translated with ease into visual forms Gangooly’s rendering of themes particularly derived from Sanskrit classics were premised on the style of of academic naturalism with formats of of European history paintings In late 19th century in in Calcutta a a a a a a a a a a a strong argument was was centered on on pictorial naturalism in in art that was was strongly supported by Balendranath Tagore Tagore Ishwari Prasad and Rabindranath Tagore Tagore At the turn of of the century Gangooly’s works continued to flourish as a a a a a strong strand of of Academic oils painting which had acquired the strength of of social and professional niche 49