Page 59 - Eye of the beholder

Academic naturalism were churned out by the Art School who could be painters portraitist or or draughtsmen but despite the the presence of of a a a a a a a large numbers of of these artists Gangooly managed to stay afloat The reason being many opportunities of exhibiting his works outside the home city critical opinions penned extensively by critics in in in the various local print media and found appreciation patronage and acceptance at at at the the the the home of the the the the Tagore’s But there was also the the the the x-factor in in in Gangooly who had specialized in in in the particular genre of landscapes mountains and and river scapes creating romantic and sentimental effects that aroused a a a a a a a a response of emotions in the viewer This genre of of works that Gangooly engaged with made a a a a a a a a sentimental appeal of of mood and sublimity which captured the viewer’s eyeballs Over the the the the years he he he he he developed a a a a a a a a a a a a magical attraction to the the the the Himalayas the the the the river Padma and the the the the scenes of rural serenity that that enabled him to create the the picturesque and the the sublime that that became the the saliency in in in his understanding of of the the various forms of of nature in in in its geographical formation and configuration But apart from the the mountains what attracted him most was the the river Padma His oils spoke the language of of grandeur and and majesty of of nature According to to Anirban Sadhu the the collector “This particular painting namely the the “Seascape at Vishakhapatnam” surfaced in in an an an an auction in in Germany The consignor was an an an an Indian family who had been in in in in in in Germany since the the 1950s Perhaps this explained why the the painting was in in in in in in such an impeccable condition The painting depicted a a a a a a a a a view of the dawn in in in Vishakhapatnam where the the artist was known to have taken a a a a a a a a a a long holiday and painted other seascapes” REFERENCE
Partha Mitter “Art and Nationalism in Colonial India 1850-1922: Occidental Orientations” Cambridge University Press New York 1994
Thakurta Tapati Guha “The Making of New ‘Indian’ Art: Artists Aesthetics and Nationalism in in Bengal 1850-1920” Cambridge University Press New York 1992
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