BOO EVIE

BENODEBEHARI MUKHERJEE (1904-1980) rF TENARY FTRO P TIVE EXHIBITIO Editor: and R. Shiv Kumar Publisher: Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi in collaboration with National gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi

Late recognition is something, it seems, which followed Benodebehari Mukherjee. "He came ir last ten years of his life" as K.G. Subramanyan would state in the introductory article of the Co Benodebehari Mukherjee. This volume is published as part of the Centenary Retrospective Ex to February 5, 2007). The recognition of the artist came pouring in starting with the conferring Akademi, Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India, Desikottama by Visva- Bharati UnivE to his oeuvre by his student, through the documentary, The Inner Eye. Subraman of the editor of a Calcutta daily who did not know about Benodebehari, as the artist himself "wi limelight". Subramanyan sums it all thus, "In this, he was an antithesis to Ramkinker Baij, who Ramkinker was the image of a Saul, punch drunk with the sight of the iridescent world, Benod' withdrawn Taoist monk, seeking speechless rapport with its inner rhythm."

The centenary retrospective exhibition of Benodebehari, who doubtlessly can be considered a art, also happened two years after the actual centenary year. When and cultural see and government agencies are pumping money culture and art festivals, we see two curators, t western regions of the country, pacing the corridors of power in Delhi, getting entangled in the crawling files. But the culmin excellent exhibition at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi, supplemented with admirable publications.

Edited by the curators of show, Gulammohammed Sheikh and R. Siva Kumar, the Commemorative Volume [I would not da catalogue] has articles by K.G. Subramanyan and by the curators folfowed by the writings of Benodebehari himself. The tirr contextualizes the cultural milieu in which Benodebehari lived and worked.

The book opens with the Curators' Note, where Sheikh and Siva Kumar recount their two year long journey "to trace Benod possible collection within reach in India", traveling to Banasthali, Najimabad or searching for The Bridge or khoai, which Be1 using almost every possible mode of transport. Even Siva Kumar's scooter was not spared.

K.G. Subramanyan in his article titled Benodebehari Mukherjee maps the relevance and importance of the artist going thrm genre of art. I personally enjoyed reading the portion where Subramanyan discusses some of the works of Benodebehari "v 'calligraph'. Subramanyan justifies in the following paragraph how he would define certain works of Benodebehari as 'callig1 suggests that this approach is due to Benodebehari interaction with Far Eastern art. Another high-point of Subramanyan's c the mural of Benodebehari titled the Medieval Saints. I would suggest the reader to remember the following lines when see1 perfect reconstruction in NGMA, New Delhi. "The pageant moves like a river: it starts modestly on the hills, swells and broa feeders and tributaries that add variety and depth to it, then rides a rough terrain and struggles over the barriers before thro mankind in town and village. This movement is flagged here and there with certain topographical and historical landmarks t chronological authenticity". Subramanyan signs off his article with note on the contribution of Benodebehari in the field of ar interest in varied art practices.

The article by K.G. Subramanyan is originally an obituary, which he wrote for Visva-Bharati News, April1981. Reading it on article by K.G. Subramanyan based on his experience as the student of Benodebehari.

In the article "Ruminating on 'Life of Medieval Saints' by Benodebehari Mukherjee" Gulammohammed Sheikh appraises thE significance of the "magnum opus" of Benodebehari. "Benodebehari drew upon Bhakti", writes Sheikh, "to script his India b~ silent revolutionaries rising from within the populous and introducing them as harbingers of change". Sheikh reiterates the s Medieval Saints' and justifies the absence of Meera as a political issue rather than gender problematic. "The explicit investr or otherwise, into the image of Meera may have worked as a deterrent for Benodebehari", writes Sheikh. Unlike Subraman~ journey, "with a series of journeymen in different guises guiding the viewer". Sheikh then invites the reader/viewer to join tht description of the mural. His admiration for Kabir (as evident in his paintings too) becomes audible when the journey reachE the middle of a musical sangat in a moment of silence before the bhajan begins". Gulammohammed Sheikh's reading of 'Life of Medieval Saints' gives a cogent objectivity to the project as he was mapping would not claim the involvement with the artist as Subramanyan had or with the site as Siva Kumar has. Sheikhs ideologic; are evident in his writing and the curatorial inputs.

If a question is asked about Benodebehari one can certainly quote Siva Kumar who summarizes the oeuvre of the artist tht learned great deal from cultural antecedents (Eastern and Western) but he was not a revivalist in pursuit of antiquity; he wa live contact of nurturing roots. But this nourishment drawn from faraway sources underwent such metabolic transformation 1 them in the luxuriance of his expression and in the innovative presence he makes on the Indian artscape". Only a person w heaps of documents; may it be small doodles, huge murals, canvases, dusty notebooks, bundled up letters, can conclusive The article "Benodebehari Mukhe~ee: Life, Context, Work" by R. Siva Kumar first takes the reader through the life of the ar1 influences like Rabindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Coomaraswamy, Stella Kramrisch, Hazari Prasad Dwivedi and then tl the phases which changed thanks to his journey through various environments like Santiniketan, Nepal, Mussourie, Patna < photographs and illustrations of the works support the article. This article could have been printed separately as monograpt art lovers, not everybody can afford Rs.4,800. (/ have cited the articles for a specific reason; so that a person who cannot a get the flavor of the articles.)

The book also features Benodebehari's writings as Chitrakar(excerpts from the book Chirakartranslated into English by K. Books, Calcutta, 2006), and My Experiments with Murals (translated into English by Ajit Kumar Dutta, Lalit Kala Contempor

Parthiv Shah deserves great appreciation for the excellent design and Lustra Print for superior quality of printing.

* * * Browsing through the book one of my senior colleagues in Baroda stated, "this is the ideal way one should remember and r

The birth centenary year of Ramkinker is already over. Is anyone listening?

Jayaram Poduval