Sunday, August 11, 2013

STROKES OF GENIUS

Maharashtra gets its first encyclopaedia of artists

Charts State’s Art Tradition Across 200 Years

Mithila Phadke TNN

    Artist Suhas Bahulkar recalls the time he came across a painting by the late GH Nagarkar in the godown of a museum. It had been tossed aside and a few of the museum’s authorities believed the 5 ft x 3 ft work to be a print. “There wasn’t even a plastic sheet covering it,” says Bahulkar. “I had to explain that the painting had won a gold medal from the Bombay Art Society in 1927.” It depicted Draupadi’s sw aya m va r, rendered using the wash technique, which was remarkable for a painting of its proportions, Bahulkar says.
    The artwork, accompanied by an essay on Nagarkar — one of the Bombay revivalist school’s prominent members —is part of Drishyakala, the first-ever biographical encyclopaedia of over 300 painters, sculptors and cartoonists from Maharashtra.
    Spearheaded by Bahulkar and his colleague Deepak Ghare, the six-year-long project weaves narratives on the artists’, with photographs of their work. Aside from renowned names like MF Husain and KH Ara, the Marathi compilation has information on the lesser-known artists.
    “India has two art traditions – the Bombay school and the Bengal school,” says Bahulkar. “Because the latter was nurtured by artists, organisations and Bengal government, it became famous, unlike the Bombay school.” The result
was that artists across Maharashtra languished in anonymity. “So researchers tend to only write about the same people,” says the former professor of JJ School of Art. “Some believe that Maharashtra’s art history started with the progressive artists’ group, when it was the result of many previous movements.” The lack of awareness prompted Bahulkar to create acomprehensive database.
    The process required coordination, time and money, and trips to track down families of artists. To be included in the list, artists needed to have careers spanning 25 years. “They could have been born and worked here, moved out of Maharashtra later, or been born outside but worked here,” says Bahulkar.
    Discussions with artist communities in Satara, Sangli and Aurangabad helped with the final selection.
    There were a few roadblocks when some of the biographers dropped out, throwing the schedule out of gear. There were also instances when artists refused to furnish details about their birth-date, family, and in some cases, secret second marriages.
    “But now, we are getting reactions from artists who are glad that their family members have been included,” says Sadhna Bahulkar, a team member. Along with Suparna Kulkarni, who helped organise the data, she made sure that most artists’ bios mentioned their mothers and wives. “Their role in artists’ lives cannot be left out,” adds Sadhna. “We had only five days to do it, and made over a hundred phone calls. It was something we really wished to do.”