Gyankosh: An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN : 2581-8252 Volume II, December 2019
METAMORPHOSIS OF MIND, MATTER AND LINES
Dr. Kavita Singh ABSTRACT
A sincere effort has been made to study the essence of the genre of drawing analysing its fine nuances and what sets apart a drawing from a sketch, as a majority of art lovers think sketching is fine arts whereas by studying the works of five Indian Contemporary artists for whom the genre of drawing stands much more than a mere sketch which is infact simply a study of an object and preliminary sketch to actual imaginative drawing. These five prominent artists have their own unique styles, perceptions and convictions; what unites them is the common chord of deeply intense expression about the human situations and social milieus and values, which compels them to create such meticulously fabulous aesthetically charged masterpieces of drawing which are equally valued as other genres like painting and multi-media. This research paper also traces their creative journeys, explores their minds and tries to demystify their artistic vocabulary and what qualifies as a good work of art which has the potential to charge the minds of the people and infuse a silent cerebral revolution. Keywords: Prehistoric Cave Painting, Drawing, Crowquills, Sketching, Traditional Drawing, Drypoint, Aquatint, Miniature Painting, Indian Contemporary Art, Jogen Chowdhury, J. Sultan Ali, Sunil Das, Jatin Das, Tao, Jon Moraes, Satwant Singh.
Assistant Professor, S. Sobha Singh Department of Fine Arts, Punjabi University, Patiala (Punjab).
1 Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, Chandigarh
Gyankosh: An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN : 2581-8252 Volume II, December 2019
“Drawing is a magical process of self-discovery. The artist, as he draws, discovers himself more genuinely in the fantasies that sprout forth from his imagination. The line is an instinctive form of self-revelation, whereby the artist and his viewer are drawn together in a quest that is less conscious and less contrived than the formal and finished oil painting.” - Geeti Sen Art Critic and Author Introduction It was perhaps in the Prehistoric Caves where that the first homo sapiens yearned to express their observations, thoughts and perceptions in the form of innocently drawn drawings depicting birds and animals and the scenes from their immediate environs. The intriguing power and mysteries of natural phenomenon often amazed and overwhelmed their mind and raised their curiosity about the wild forces of nature’s elements which they desired to replicate in the simple, bold and expressive drawings on the rocks and the walls of their caves, using simple tools made of twigs, sharpened stones and pieces of bones, dipping them in the animal blood, fats and earthy pigments. The works of primitive artists are found in the Prehistoric Caves in many parts of the world particularly in India (Panchmarhi Caves, Bhim Betka Caves, Kaimur Caves, Mirzapur Caves etc.),1 in France (Lascaux and Chauvet Caves), and in Spain (Altamira Caves). In these caves, the predominant subject of these drawings includes hunting scenes, forms of birds and animals, scenes celebrating their victory over an enemy or a rival tribal group in symbolic shapes invented to represent certain social events and rituals. Interestingly, each tribe possessed the ingenuity to design their own individualistic symbols and insignia giving credence to their existence and the strength of their status. The world has moved from those early rock and cave drawings to the present era when drawing is considered one of the most fascinating form of artistic expression and it now implies numerous instruments such as graphite pencils, high-tech pens, crow quills & ink, coloured chalks, crayons, pastels and a variety of markers. Simply put the genre of ‘Drawing’ is a form of visual arts in which a person uses various drawing art materials to mark and draw his thoughts and ideas in two-dimensional form on a surface like a paper, a cardboard, plastic sheet, animal skin, canvas, mount board, duplex sheets and glazed art papers, using a number of art materials like coloured inks, water colours and diluted acrylic paints so on and so forth. The preferred surface for drawing still remains paper and fine canvas, though there are no limitations to use other flat or textured surfaces as per the requirements of an artist. A quick, free-hand drawing, is usually not intended as a finished artwork, it is simply a preliminary sketch for tackling an artistic 2 Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, Chandigarh
Gyankosh: An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN : 2581-8252 Volume II, December 2019 problem but an artist has to master the fine nuances and fundamental elements and aspects of a good sketching, which enables him to bring out his intense visions and creative ideas onto a surface of his choice in the manner, style and mediums he is well conversant to use.2 Today in the Contemporary art scene, drawing is indeed a fully developed genre of art which is very popular and is being practiced all around the world by creative artists who have acquired meticulous drawing skills and they are free to choose immensely interesting, engaging and mesmerising subjects weighing on their minds. Traditionally, drawings were done in monochrome shades and tones with limited use of colours and hues as the art experts or art critics presumed that the colour will turn a drawing into a painting. But such restrictions and boundaries have vanished. Now a powerful drawing often uses fragments of colours to enhance its visual appeal and add an aesthetic charm to a work of art. Coloured pencils, both oil and wax crayons, brown and black conte and charcoal are richly used without artistic inhibitions, infact their use has added another dimension to the genre of drawing, freeing the drawings from limited vistas. In western terminology, drawing is distinct from painting, even though similar media are often employed in both tasks. The process of drawing is initiated with a fine tip tool covering a smaller space and then stretching forward from one point to the other forming a line. Repeated exercise can generate desired facts of lighter or darker shades, textures and dimensions creating forms and shapes as per the requirement of the theme or subject. Though the art of drawing was being practised with great aplomb in Indian Traditional art for centuries, using the surface of paper, leather, wood, earthen pots, calicos, textiles, walls and other fine or coarse surfaces in stylised versions each pertaining to a particular region with a thematic content. Several Art Schools were established in India by the Britishers in nineteenth century where the accent was on teaching classical and academic art forms and styles. The three-dimensional study from life, portraiture and still-life was introduced and Indian art students were taught to sketch from nature, surroundings and their immediate locales depicting villages, streets of towns, monuments and the flora and fauna found in their surroundings besides figurative drawing from imagination. The glorious legacy of the genre of drawing brought to practitioners of art in India broadly focussed on the need of realistic and meticulous rendering of art objects for creating masterly works and even today the drawings and sketches of Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Durer, Botticelli, Delacroix, and others are revered and appreciated by new generation artists. These art institutions also introduced perspective drawing and three-dimensional drawings of objects instead of Indian version of stylised flat surface drawing.3 Persian, Mughal and Pahari 3 Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, Chandigarh
Gyankosh: An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN : 2581-8252 Volume II, December 2019
Miniatures also dwelled upon the importance of lyrical fine lines which have enriched and inspired many generations of Indian artists. Later on during the early twentieth century, India produced many stalwart drawing artists such as Rabindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, A.R. Chugtai, Ram Kinker Baij, Benode Bihari Mukherjee, Chittoprasad, Hemen Mazumdar to name a few. Their drawings were in their own individualistic styles as they departed from the earlier religious and historical themes and pursued their chosen subjects based on social environments and realities, projecting the insights and perceptions in a very lyrical and aesthetical way. The credit goes to the Contemporary artists in establishing drawing as a complete and separate genre from painting and in this research paper contribution of some of the artists who have devoted their lifetime in creating very fine and engaging works of art based on drawings will be analysed critically and aesthetically. The emphasis will be on stylization, use of material, thematic content and subjective mannerism simultaneously demystifying their artistic contribution and impact on Contemporary art. The popularity of the genre of drawing can be gauged from the fact that drawing ‘Biennials’ and ‘Triennials’ are organised in all major cities around the world, which see the participation of large number of inter-continental artists as drawings are easier to be forwarded to the venue of the show. Such shows are being organised very successfully which results in exchange of artistic ideas, social concerns and propagation of Contemporary art amongst a large fraternity of drawing artists. Jogen Chowdhury- ‘Reading the Folds and Bulges of Human Agony’: One is spellbound by the magical yet powerful lines of ‘Jogen Chowdhury’ which have the potential to capture even the minutest detail of his chosen subjects specially works done on the men and women seated or reclining in pensive and sombre moods. Each line criss-crosses the folds and brings out the unwritten woes of rigours of life lit large on their faces and body folds revealing their skeletal structures and enhancing the bones of limbs stretched or folded in dramatic poses. He has a deep sense of observation and has immortalised the common people, housewives, shopkeepers, peasants, labourers and common men and women bearing typical Bengali cotton saris and dhotis. (Plate No.1) Their faces are looking into the vacant spaces and they compel the spectator to share their thoughts and contemplations in engaging mannerism. These drawings are sometimes very moving, evocative and emotional in content and on many occasions, he has also infused an iota of sensuality and low grade eroticism in the naked bodies. He has the potential of a master to compose the figures in such a way that each composition enhances the depth of the work with dark backgrounds and these figures evocatively converse with the onlookers and sometimes they seem to be lost in their 4 Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, Chandigarh
Gyankosh: An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN : 2581-8252 Volume II, December 2019 mysterious insights and dream-like trances. (Plate No.2) One would be astonished to know this great master of drawing has used very simple common wrapping paper for his excellent drawings and has used commonly found fountain pens and crow quills using Indian ink and fountain pen ink.4 But his stylisation is meticulous and labour-oriented and some works look like dry point etchings and aquatints. (Plate No.3) He has incorporated lotuses and fishes in his remarkable drawings. Each fin of the fish and the lyrical lotuses and their stems add an added charm to the moving water-currents wherein faces look at each other in a quizzical manner perhaps engaged in silent dialogues of seeking answers to the deeper meaning of life.5 He was born in Daharpara village in the Faridpur district of East Bengal now in Bangladesh in 1939 A.D. both his parents were artists and he inherited deeper artistic sensibilities from his parents in capturing the essence of the subject in engaging detail. In 1948 A.D., the whole family migrated to Calcutta and he joined ‘Government College of Arts and Crafts’ in Calcutta in 1955 A.D. After working as a designer in Madras Handloom Board for a decade, he moved further and joined Kala Bhavan Shantiniketan as ‘Professor of Painting’. Continuing his artistic journey, he was later appointed as ‘Curator’ of the art collection at Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi. He received prestigious awards and accolades from art academies and government institutions all over India and was also honoured with Rajya Sabha Nomination. His works are a benchmark in Contemporary drawing specimens and he has a large following in generations of artists who draw inspiration from his magnificent works of art. J. Sultan Ali- ‘Painter of Indigenous Metamorphical Manuscripts: “I was more concerned with the heart than with the head. If you want to paint a mango tree, establish a contact with it. Spend a day sitting under it, then paint it.” - Artist J. Sultan Ali Such was the sincerity and dedication of this remarkable artist that he immersed himself in the inner depth of the subject quenching his soul with the essence and then draw his creative strength from within and display it on his meticulously illustrated manuscript-like drawings full of mythical characters, heroes from epics, demons, gods and weird creatures, yet conveying the feelings and aspirations of the common people through these magical drawings. (Plate No.4) J. Sultan Ali was born in Bombay in 1920 A.D. in the house of a confectioner and naturally his father wanted him to pursue their parental confectionary business. He started helping his father at the age of 15 but was soon fed up with these chores as he felt something was lurking in his mind and heart which was restricted and constrained in this business. His art lay in drawing and one day he astonished his father 5 Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, Chandigarh
Gyankosh: An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN : 2581-8252 Volume II, December 2019 that he wants to be an artist. Though his father was not pleased at this idea, Sultan Ali had to run away from his home to learn drawing and painting. He went to Madras and wanted to learn drawing and painting from ‘Devi Prasad Roy Chowdhury’- the Principal of ‘Madras School of Arts and Crafts. But the great artist refused to take him and asked him to go back to his house. But Sultan Ali was stubborn and refused to move away. He sat all day long in front of the Principal’s house and begged him to take him as his student. Sultan Ali also remembers Professor Samarath who was his first Guru. He was his art teacher at St. Andrew High School in Bombay. During his school days, he had a chance to look at some of the art books wherein he was captivated by a painting by ‘Corot’ which was titled ‘Dance of the Shepherd’. He joined Madras School of Arts and Crafts in 1939 A.D. and was fascinated to the genre of drawing. After making thousands of sketches in European styles, he was fed up and wanted something Indian and indigenous in his work as he was amused to listen to the stories of Ramayana and Mahabharata and its characters impressed him deeply. An incident explains his love for Indian Gods and Goddesses, deities, apsaras and the vahanas of different Hindu Gods, though he was a Muslim himself. A wealthy man Raghavachari often used to entertain his friends and well known people at his house and laid out lavish food and drinks. He often gave gifts to his guests. At one such gathering, Raghavachari after having a few alcoholic drinks was in high spirits and he came out with a small metal sculpture of Dancing Ganesha which he presented to an Ambassador’s wife. She liked it but at home she started disliking it as she was perturbed that how a God can have an elephant’s head and a potbelly. The figurine looked ugly to her. She returned it to the host which was then given to J. Sultan Ali by him. He was happy to see the remarkably carved beautiful small figurine of dancing Ganesha. Raghavachari told him that, “I know that you are a Muslim but I also know that you are a sensitive artist and artists always love and appreciate beauty, in beauty lies the soul of divinity.”6 From then on, J. Sultan Ali broke the mental shackles of religious dogmatism and was fascinated to Indian Epics because an artist has the courage and a sacred duty to demolish walls created between the humans by narrow religious perceptions. He started seeking universal truth in every illustrative manuscript or symbol. No doubt his fascinating meticulously rendered drawings are full of symbols, mythical and religious characters, flora and fauna, tantric symbols, written text as textures in various hues and tones thus added a distinctive charm to his drawings which attract the attention of art critics as well as common people alike. (Plate No.5 & 6) Most artists used to think that exposure to European art stored in London, Paris and Rome was necessary for the 6 Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, Chandigarh
Gyankosh: An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN : 2581-8252 Volume II, December 2019 development of an artist’s creative acumen. But J. Sultan Ali firmly believed that, “Such superfluous exercise was not essential for the development of an artist. He should borrow from his surroundings, cultural traditions and improvise on those lines and add a personal touch to its distinctive flavour.” He went out of India only twice. He visited Nepal with Indian Artists Delegation in 1963 and in 1968 A.D. He visited Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany which sent Sultan Ali on a sightseeing tour of West Germany together with other Indian artists. Though he was curious to see the works done by other artists but his heart lay on his inner vision. One can rank him as the innovator of endless styles of textures and his compositions are so moving, powerful and vibrant that they infuse a spark of kinetic energy which lightens up his compact and well-knit forms and textures in free flowing lucid style. Sunil Das- ‘A Restless Seeker’: The words- spontaneous, restless, furiously experimental and daringly indulgent describes the work of multi-dimensional artist- Sunil Das, who had a magic charcoal in his hand which was fast and furious like the synergy of the lightening. (Plate No.7) Art should move he firmly believed as static and dead forms didn’t inspire him. Sunil Das is indeed an artist in frenzy. Each of his drawings done in charcoal, crayons, pastels or even ink & brush oozes a rare vibrancy and pulsates with speeding motion which denotes his zest for life and deep passion for drawing. Proving the proverbial truth that, “Life should flow like a spring. Static and steady water starts to stink.” His works swing between figuration and abstraction and sometimes it is a joyful mixture of both, as figurative forms with carefully managed smudges turn a drawing into an expressive abstraction with a delightful dynamism.7 Drawings of galloping and wayward furious horses coupled with carefully mingled shadows create a sense of mystery and depth to the drawing and is successful in maintaining negative and positive spaces which go into the making of a remarkable work of art and suddenly a sketch turns into an imaginative aesthetically charged composition. 8 Similarly, in the case of his raging bulls with piercing eyes and swollen nostrils portray the raw masculine energy which denotes untamed power which one generally relates to Lord Shiva’s Bull- Nandi. But his bulls are more Spanish than Indian with raised and swinging tails and menacing postures, muscles swirling all round.9 (Plate No.8) The onlooker is charged with a rare synergy merely looking at these drawings. In his earlier works of 60s, there is always the presence of a dialogue between compositional forms, the lingering shadows and bold and powerful lines which appear and disappear at the magic wand of his masterly strokes. A sense of being a matador or a fighter is omnipresent in his works 7 Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, Chandigarh
Gyankosh: An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN : 2581-8252 Volume II, December 2019 against adverse conditions and social milieu. He catches the bull by the horns and never shies way behind the superfluous logics and paradoxes. The message is loud and clear, life has to be tackled head on. Though his earlier works were embedded in diverse cults of rituals and pictorial ingredients of an evocative mystic symbolism. These motifs were done in quick brushstrokes and these pertain to tribal and primitive religions where a demon or a Devi or a powerful cult figure was the main central piece surrounded by weird and slimy creatures such as tadpoles, snakes, creepy crawlies and other reptiles which project complex thoughts and psychological conflicts. His other works are endowed with thick and dark figurations in oval and totem-like presentations. Angry birds emerging out of facial images with haunting eyes and deep manifestations and vibrations engaged in an effort to break free from the stark complexities of human mind. He has added bright colours like luminous yellow and vermilion red to his paintings of bulls and horses. (Plate No.9) After decades of work which was in resonance with speed and action, he seems to have mellowed down and has attempted some figures and faces standing like scare-crows in the fields with their limbs loosely hanging by their sides. These enigmatic works of art are compellingly engaging and deeply evocative with an aura of mysticism. Sunil Das was born in 1939 A.D. at Calcutta and we can broadly be characterised his work as ‘Expressionist’ but his love for drawing have overwhelmingly merged painting and drawing in a new delightful mannerism. He is a recipient of many awards and his works are in collection in most prestigious art galleries and museums. Jatin Das- ‘Maverick Maestro of Lines’: A few years back, an art student who was a great fan of artist Jatin Das went to his studio and begged him to take him as his disciple as he wanted to draw like him in such free flowing lyrical lines. The art student showed him a few sketches from his sketchbook. After that, Jatin Das turned to the art student and told him that, “I will take you as my student after you have done at least one lakh sketches on your own.” The student was dumbfounded and left his studio. The moral of the story is that the genre of drawing is not an easy task and requires constant practice and involvement before something worthwhile is achieved because as people harbour a wrong perception that mere sketching is drawing. Drawing comes from the heart and soul from where the fountain of creativity and imagination flows. In a similar expression the great thinker and philosopher ‘Tao’ once remarked, “If you want to draw a bamboo, be a bamboo for twenty years.” Jatin Das was born in 1941 A.D. at Mayurbhanj, Orissa. During a lecture at an art academy students were free to ask questions about his drawings and how he has mastered this genre. He explained 8 Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, Chandigarh
Gyankosh: An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN : 2581-8252 Volume II, December 2019 that he belonged to a very poor background and could afford to buy expensive art materials, sketchbooks and drawing sheets. He used to draw on old newspapers and also on the ground near the Gateway of India at Bombay in chalk and soft pastels. One cannot be a master of drawing within a week, a month or a year. To evolve something remarkable in the genre of drawing an artist has to work relentlessly and feverishly to attain excellence and control over his material. Renowned author- ‘Don Moraes’ once wrote these lines while watching Jatin Das at work: “Watched as he works like a child, His grey beard incites the wind, His eyes look up, more than mild, As though they hadn’t created anything. But the flowing bodies grow under his hand And faces take shape, and a world his own, As though he were God, and no people Existed before his were born.” Moraes further writes: “When his hand freezes imprecise Images and inks into form, His world turns slowly to ice Melting in each direction Towards a truth few can face, The horror and happiness of creation.” “Jatin Das’s single preoccupation is with the human figure. It is his major obsession, which consumes him totally and directs his irrepressible creative energies. These human statements are enormously expressive but perhaps without illustrating any particular aspect of human situation. And yet these vital, monumental forms loom larger than life in Jatin’s drawings and paintings.” This was the reaction of famous art critic- ‘S.A Krishnan’ when asked about Jatin’s leitmotif.10 Jatin’s constant involvement with free flowing and magical lines dates back to the time when he was a student at J.J. School of Art, Bombay from 1957 to 62 A.D. Each drawing is a challenge or a riddle which he craves to solve in powerfully structured compositions and one can see the existence of a silent dialogue between male and female forms. (Plate No.10) Infact this is the celebration of human relations with a singular air of erotic stance. These mute figures are pulsating with a rare aesthetic charm and a vibrancy which triggers a surge of sudden synergy in the veins of 9 Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, Chandigarh
Gyankosh: An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN : 2581-8252 Volume II, December 2019 human relationships. (Plate No.11) The outer persona of this man may seem restless and always on the move but people who know him well informed deep inside him resides a calm philosopher and a thinker who seem to be aggressive and impatient. He outrightly rejects hollow and shallow perceptions and ideas and draws his artistic strength from traditional tribal art of Orissa where drawing is a way of life. Sometimes many young artists who interact with him find him aggressive and arrogant as he sincerely believes that people have found shortcuts and without any dedication in art they have turned businessmen instead of being real artists. The journey of a real artist passes through different terrains which are not always smooth and welcoming so the presence of dedication and contemplation is the pre-requisite for any artist to create great works of art. He was awarded Padma Bhushan by Government of India and other prestigious awards. His works are in the permanent collection of numerous art galleries and museums. Satwant Singh- ‘Portrayal of Intense Human Complexities’: Coming face-to-face with the paintings and drawings of Satwant Singh is ofcourse an intense experience. For his work is the purest play of passion, as he works with intensity found only in masterstrokes. Eminent art critic and poet- ‘Nirupama Dutt’ describes artist Satwant’s creative journey: “Having shared a long and close association with the artist and his work, what one feels seeing a fresh work by this sensitive artist is that each work is painted with an energy that ordinary souls would find hard to muster. But then here we are not dealing with the ordinary. Satwant is an extraordinary contemporary artist born with the gift of art nurtured lovingly for nearly half a century. No, the painter is no old man. The fact is that he started painting when but a boy. For him it was the only way to relate with his delightful and at the same time disturbing world. It seems that this boy stepped out of the dark comfort of his mother’s womb with a brush in his hand. A versatile and prolific artist-a man of many talents, one could wax eloquent on his many contributions to different forms like drawings, paintings, sculptures, murals, caricature, illustrations, narrative and poetry.”11 His works are inhabited by chirping birds, leisurely roaming goats, majestic roosters, dark ravens, mysterious owls, mesmerising mermaids, fairies and dolls who have adopted the human limbs and these shockingly striking works depict half-human half-animal figures and represent Freudian thoughts on human cerebral evolution and mental evolvement. (Plate No.13) His paintings and drawings portray the circus of life and the cycle of life where predators and prey of various denominations are engaged in daily combats and the world is engaged in a mythical and mysterious balancing act of truth and mystery. (Plate No.14) Satwant Singh feels that facing a blank canvas or a white drawing sheet at once opens up his 10 Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, Chandigarh
Gyankosh: An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN : 2581-8252 Volume II, December 2019 innermost skies where celestial bodies and cosmic rays and waves take his inner soul to the creator who accompanies him to his studio and sits on his hand which starts to create creatures from uncharted terrains and boundaries. Though his first love is drawing in black and white but later on he gradually started welcoming the colours into his works.12 He further says, “Drawing is either yes or no and one cannot cheat in drawing unless you have a mastery and long association and dedication which allows one to take liberties with distortion and ruling and guiding the line at his own will. Colours are usually misleading and one can confuse the onlooker.” Satwant Singh was born in the lap of nature at Shimla in 1948 A.D. and did his early training from Government College of Art, Chandigarh. But here he was disillusioned with the rigid academic art syllabi and wanted to pursue his own heart and mind. His art lay in the genre of drawing as drawing is the mother of other art genres. His father Sardar Sadhu Singh who was a lover of music, art and literature always prodded his talented son to achieve new heights and he brought innumerable art books carrying drawings of European masters. His earlier lessons in drawing were from the drawings of Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Delacroix, Francisco Goya and later on he found the lines of great Picasso very inspiring and liberating. He likes the works of Jogen Chowdhury and Dhiraj Choudhury apart from the works of Jyoti Bhatt, Laxma Goud and J. Sultan Ali. He is a great lover of nature and when still a boy he used to wander all day in the hills and valleys with his sketchbook in hand and watch for ours the flora and fauna in the Shimla hills. Each passing cloud taking a new shape every second moved him deeply. He loved the textures of the rocks and the trees of Deodars and Pines. He himself carries great lover for literature and music especially in the early stages fairy tales and mythological characters from various civilizations inspired him and he found them interesting for the fact that these imaginative art forms nurtured over centuries have the potential to liberate our artists from the shackles of limited perceptions as the metaphors and symbols embedded in these art forms carry the social and psychological messages admired and revered by masses. (Plate No.15) Satwant Singh has been awarded numerous awards and honours by prestigious art academies, museums, art and cultural centres, private art institutions and Government of Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, J& K and Bhopal. His works are in collection in all major Government museums, art galleries, art academies, art institutions and in private collection in India, U.K. France, Australia, Germany, Fiji, Mauritius, Canada, USA and Japan. Recently he was conferred ‘Amrita Shergil Samman’ and ‘Punjab Lalit Kala Akademi Samman’ besides having been awarded ‘M.F. Husain National Award in Drawing’. He has also won ‘Two National Awards in Children’s Literature’. Animals and birds with human 11 Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26, Chandigarh
Gyankosh: An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN : 2581-8252 Volume II, December 2019 limbs in his remarkable drawings seems to convey the essence of life, struggles and triumphs which human beings face in the savage kingdom where all of us are co-habitants. We have borrowed many instincts from the animal world and the same is true with them as these also share same basic instincts. Satwant Singh feels humans are the cleverest animals on this planet. Summary: Looking at the work of these Indian contemporary artists who have carved a niche for themselves in the magnificent genre of drawing, it is amply clear that a common thread of passion and dedication runs through their works and all of them are great thinkers and have mastered the art of drawing and can create wonders with a mere touch of one stroke a line or a form. Each of them has his own unique and mystic style which manifests through their deepest psyche which keeps on absorbing all images floating around them even in mundane social environs. Another fact which is revealed with the psycho-analysis of their works is that there is a thin line but very crucial one which separates a sketching work from that of a meticulously rendered imaginative and aesthetically charged drawing. All of them have emphasised through their art that the genre of drawing needs constant dedication and involvement and young artists who wish to adopt this genre should be ready to dedicate themselves whole-heartedly and explore their minds and hearts freely.
Plates
Plate 1 Plate 2 Plate 3
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Plate 4 Plate 5 Plate 6
Plate 7 Plate 8 Plate 9
Plate 10 Plate 11 Plate 12
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Gyankosh: An Interdisciplinary Journal ISSN : 2581-8252 Volume II, December 2019
Plate 13 Plate 14 Plate 15
List of Plates: 1. ‘Tortured’ by Artist Jogen Chowdhury. 2. ‘Partition, Poverty and Politics’ by Artist Jogen Chowdhury. 3. ‘Two Figures’ by Artist Jogen Chowdhury. 4. ‘Vrishabha’ by Artist J. Sultan Ali. 5. ‘Untitled’ by Artist J. Sultan Ali. 6. ‘Gajendra Nath’ by Artist J. Sultan Ali. 7. ‘Untitled’ by Artist Sunil Das. 8. ‘Bull’ by Artist Sunil Das. 9. ‘Horse’ by Artist Sunil Das. 10. ‘Figure’ by Artist Jatin Das. 11. ‘Tandav’ by Artist Jatin Das. 12. ‘Standing Figure’ by Artist Jatin Das. 13. ‘Savage Garden’ by Artist Satwant Singh. 14. ‘Savage Symphony’ by Artist Satwant Singh. 15. ‘The King and The Queen’ by Artist Satwant Singh.
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REFERENCES:
1. Sivaramamurti, C.; 1970, Indian Painting, National Book Trust, New Delhi, p.22-23. 2. Stanyer, Peter; 2003, The Complete Book of Drawing Techniques, Arcturus Publishing Ltd, London, pp.6-8. 3. Singh, Kishore; August 4, 2015, Drawings are art too, Forbes India Magazine, India. 4. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi; February 18, 2016, Jogen Chowdhury retrospective: Between the Lines, The Hindu, India. 5. Sen, Geeti; 1996, Image and Imagination- Five Contemporary Artists in India, Mapin Pub;ishing Pvt. Ltd, Ahmedabad, India, pp.31-42. 6. Beier, Ulli; 1983, J. Sultan Ali. In R.L. Bartholomew, Ed. Sultan Ali, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, pp.3-10. 7. Majumder, Manasji; 2019, Restless Creativity- A Retrospective- The Art of Sunil Das (Catalogue), Gallery Kolkata, Duckback House 41, Shakespeare Sarani, Kolkata, pp.1-4. 8. Kalra, Vandana; August 11, 2015, Drawn to Perfection, Indian Express Lifestyle, New Delhi. 9. Jandial, Shraddha; August 10, 2015, Postmodernist Artist Sunil Das passes away at 76, India Today, New Delhi. 10. Moraes, Dom; 1990, Jatin Das- Retrospective 1968-1990, Shona Adhikari ITC, New Delhi, pp.1-6. 11. Dutt, Nirupama; January 17, 2007, Passion Play, The Tribune Lifestyle. 12. Goswamy, B.N.; February 26, 1981, The Heart’s Reasons, The Tribune.
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