Page 99 - Eye of the beholder

ABDUL RAHIM APPABHAI ALMELKAR [1920-1982] THE VERSATILE TRADITIONALIST
Almelkar belongs to a a a a a a a a a generation of artists in India who established an active engagement with her pictorial tradition particularly miniatures and and folk and and tribal arts Belonging to to the league of artists as as as Jamini Roy K Sreenivasulu and Narasimhamoorthy his exclusive indigenous vision of regional art art and art art forms remained unique It required intuitive strength to pursue a a a a a a path of exclusiveness at at a a a a a a a a time when regional art and folk forms were dismissed as revivalist lacking persuasive originality yet the artist remained untouched by modernism inspired from Western European artists in the art art of his friends as Syed Haider Raza or Maqbool Fida Husain of of the Bombay Progressives He belonged to a a a a a a tradition of of stylized "Indian" painters with exquisite and intricate detailing marking the character of his works as ornamental or or or decorative This type of of study had formed part part of of his his pedagogy particularly derived from miniature art tradition Almelkar was an artist who developed his individual style in in in the mid 1950s after having gone through painting subjects as landscapes and and life of the the common people In the the mid 1940s he he he initiated themes that were mostly figurative based on on kings and and consorts heroes and and heroines and raga-raginis of of Hindustani music His development of of visual language in in in in 1950s was crucial at at this juncture as as Indian artists were going through an an identity crisis that became critical in in the the the 1960s By then then it it it had become evident that authenticity in in visual language and construction of of Indian identity from the the margins of of the the Third World in in in reacting creatively into Internationalism had become the the need of the the hour Within this context Almelkar’s works marked an an important departure i i i i i e e e e e e e e e e while the Bombay Progressives had aggressively contributed to developing Indian modernism through stylistic derivations from avant-garde European artists and now with this turn of of events requiring authenticity of of Indianness in in visual arts Almelkar’s derivation of of inspiration from pictorial imagery of of folk and tribal traditions as well as miniatures proved path breaking He played an an important role in in in the development of modernism within the Indian context particularly connecting to his roots interpreting it it according to his his contemporary sensibility thus establishing his his distinct status within Modern Indian art through a a a a a a style of indigenous visual language Born in in in Ahmedabad in in in Gujarat his family moved to Almelkar village in in in Bijapur Karnataka Almelkar believed that he he he he must have learnt painting when he he he he was still in in in his mother`s womb "My mother was busy embroidering all through her her her pregnancy and I probably inherited art from her at at at that stage " he he he said He began painting at at at the young age age of seven After a a a a a a a a a a conventional education education in in a a a a a a a a a local school at at at Sholapur he came to to Bombay to to pursue his education education in in art initially at at at Nootan Kaa Mandir and and later at at at J J J J School of Art During his student years he won several awards at shows organized by the the Art Art Society Society of India and the the Bombay Art Art Society Society In his journey towards the growth and development as an an artist Almelkar considered Khatri a a a a a a a a folk painter from Gujarat as his true teacher having instilled in in in in in in him the seminality of perfecting drawing and and perfect draftsmanship as as a a a a a a a a a a a fundamental premise in in in releasing creativity and and ideas from his mind "In those days there was `no inner eye eye and outer eye` A single vision informed the work of most artists " says Almelkar 93