Have you ever heard of Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh, Amrita Sher-Gil or Subodh Gupta? These are three well-known Indian modern artists whose work we came across while on a brief tour of the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi. We realized that all of our art exposure to date has been very Euro-focused and that we did not have any sort of exposure to Indian artists…so we decided to do a blog post on these three artists to help change that situation!
About the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA)
The NGMA is the premier art gallery in India, and is managed by the Ministry of Culture, established by the Government of India on March 29, 1954. The main building, known as Jaipur House, sits close to the India Gate monument, and was a former palace of the Maharaja of Jaipur. In 2009, a new wing was opened which added almost 6-times more space to display new works as well as including an auditorium, theatre, conservation laboratory, library/academic section, cafeteria and museum shop.
Zoe’s Thoughts – Meghdoot by Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh
My favourite painting in the National Gallery of Modern Art is called Meghdoot by Gualmmohommed Shekh. I was drawn to this picture because of the bright colours and the modern look of the painting.
Another thing that interested me was that the painting can be seen from many angles and perspectives. For example, at the bottom of the painting, on the left, the two houses are seen at eye level while the buildings behind them are seen from above.
The painting was made in 1998- 1999 based on the play “Meghdoot” by Kalidasa. It is about a man whose loved one sadly is separated from him so they use the clouds to communicate with each other.
I really like this painting and think that everyone should be exposed to this type of art.
Katina’s Choice – Village Scene by Amrita Sher-Gil
Amrita Sher-Gil was a famous female Indian painter who only lived to the age of 28, (1913-41). She was born in Europe and trained with many European impressionist masters, but decided to return to India to pursue her passions. She was inspired by the rural and poverty stricken women of India and tried her best to forward their perspective in her work. Her painting “Village Scene” which is located in the National Gallery received the highest amount ever at an art auction in India. Amrita is considered to be a leading Indian artist who has influenced and inspired women’s rights movements both in India and abroad. For me, I selected this picture because the colours reminded me of the beautiful saris we have seen throughout India so far. Also, what stood out is the relationships of the women in the painting – their closeness to each other, and the pampering of their children.
Mikhaila’s Selection – The Three Girls by Amrita Sher-Gil
This painting is by Amrita Sher-Gil and shows three girls sitting together. They are looking off in the same direction with thoughtful expressions, which makes you wonder what they are looking at or thinking about. The colours are simple yet vibrant, and the focus is entirely on the girls as there is no action or other figures on the canvas. I love this painting because the girls have beautiful and thoughtful faces, and look so realistic. This painting won the gold medal at the Bombay Art Society exhibition. Today, “The Three Girls” is located in the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi.
Oliver’s Choice – Sculptures by Subdoh Gupta
I was drawn to something completely different…two massive, stainless steel sculptures which were found outside in the grounds of the NGMA by artist Subodh Gupta. Born in 1964, Gupta lives and works in New Delhi. All of his pieces reflect his surroundings, and make use of everyday items whether it’s buckets or the top half of a taxi cab! Over the years Gupta has had exhibitions all over the world, including Korea, China, Germany, Spain, England, and Switzerland – just to name a few.
This piece is called ‘Ray’ and was created in 2012.
This piece was on the lawns as we approached the entrance to the gallery. The bright, shiny sculpture really jumped out at me in the sunlight. Later, we were walking back to our tour bus and quite accidentally came across this beautiful piece called ‘Dada’…
A tree made of stainless steel! I just found this to be absolutely amazing, and very beautiful. It reminded me of the ice storm we had in Toronto in December of 2013 where everything was coated with ice, and tree branches (and whole trees) were broken and had taken out many power lines.
We were all very impressed and indeed, captivated by the art and artists we found here in India. We have not even scratched the surface of what is available here, but what we have seen we thought was absolutely amazing. Hopefully we have opened a window to modern Indian art for you, our reader, and have inspired you to find out some more as well!
Comments
6 responses to “Modern Art – India Style!”
Well, an Indian Art scene, who knew? But of course there would be! Such a large continent has to have gifted artists, musicians, dancers, singers….it is only we over here in the arrogant west who assume that we are the gifted ones and the rest loll around in poverty and ignorance? Mind you, that statement only speaks for ME and nobody else…I guess I just allowed the public press to influence my thinking. Thank you for giving me a gentle ‘flop upside my head’ to remember that the universe does not begin and end in the Western Hemisphere!
Awesome work. And of course when I think, there is beautiful dance and song.
Hi Herta,
We had a similar “ah-ha” moment when we walked out of the NGMA…so this is where the “Inform” portion of our mantra comes into play. We did take in some dance as well, which should show up in a future post as well!
Hi, gang!
“Modern” art has never been my favourite so I was very interested to hear what you had seen but even more interested to see your photos. I am afraid I would be hard pressed to pick a favourite from what you showed us. They are are all very beautiful! I do enjoy sculpture from everyday items and those you saw are no exception! How amazing!
Ginny
Hi Ginny,
I’m like you – not always a fan of “modern art” as I sometimes find it difficult to interpret the art and understand its meaning. All of these pieces were interesting in their own right. Glad you enjoyed the post!
Zoe, I like your choice too. Imagine the woman and man being separated and only able to communicate through clouds!!!!!!! Mik I am in agreement with you about how thoughtful and beautiful the three girls appear–No wonder it won the gold medal! Katina, your choice made me think of how important the women’s friendship was to each other, and their family ties. At fist glance her work made me think of Monet. Oliver, I loved your choice of the “Dada.” It does remind me of the beautiful, peaceful look of the landscape after the ice storm!!! Love to all, Baba
Hi Baba,
We’re glad you enjoyed our choices. The funny thing is that both Katina and Mikhaila chose their pieces independently, and when it came time to put this blog post together, they had a good chuckle that they had picked the same artist without knowing it! Unfortunately we weren’t able to spend more time at the gallery, but if you’re ever in New Delhi and are interested in art, I think that this gallery is a good place to go.