Journey with art

Water colour paintings by Ram Kinkar Baij Ram kinkar Baij is one of the greatest contributor of Indian modern art, his works are often discussed among the artists and the art lovers. Here I would like to highlight the impact of Rabindra Nath Tagore in Ram kinkar's life and I would start with a story, Once Ram Kinkar was making a portrait of Guru Dev Rabindra Nath Tagore. While making the portrait in one sitting he was advised by the old poet that "his approach to the subject should be like a tiger and through the observation suck into it's blood". This story is told by many authors and in many ways keeping the true meaning of it. What Guru Dev wanted to advise ,Ram kinkar had expressed in his documentary made by Ritwik Ghatak. In Ram Kinkar's own words he says after that event " I never looked back " when I see his water colour paintings, sketches and sculptures, I find a clear understanding of what Guru Dev said to him. In his water colour...

This is a sketch by Nanda Lal Bose, the sketch is of a tribal old man. Nanda Lal Bose was a pioneer of modern Indian art practice and worshipped by his students. His students have expressed in their writings and interviews about their teacher. One of his student Dhiren Krishna  Dev Barman once said how Nanda Lal Bose use to teach them about Nature study,  according to him nature study means a lot, it's not only the form, shape or colours of trees, flowers and sky. It is also about animals, birds, humans or anything in nature, their characters , their expressions, movements and many other things. To express the true essence of nature an artist must understand all these. He believed an artist should be a keen observer of nature, nature study should be a daily routine for an artist but he also  taught his students  not to follow  the sketches or exact appearance of things while making paintings ,rather an artist should feel the environment or the character of ...

Albrecht Durer a 16th century German artist. Probably the first artist who has drawn a self nude,at that point of time no artist is seen with this kind of a approach. It was a quest to new horizons where Durer has a great artistic conviction. He has drawn many self portrait and one can notice a self contentment in his works. In 16th century it was a liberation from conventional art practices. The drawings are highly realistic in nature and because of this individual quest he was able to establish wood cut prints as a form of art. His print  works were collected by the elites of that period, one of them was the son of Christopher Columbus who gave economical stability and fame. Durer was highly influential artist for later generations. 

The vision of Saint John  "The vision of Saint John " a painting by El Greco , the painting was left unfinished when Greco died in 1614 and it has been cut up at the top. The painting was in Paris, the collector was a Spanish artist named Zuloaga, once Picasso saw this painting in early 20th century, he was inspired by the painting and created one of his most important work " The Demoiselles d'Avignon" Another great artist of 20th century modern art in America Jackson Pollock was also influenced by El Greco's thought that art had to follow it's own rules; that it needed to be freed from imitation of reality and of ancient art, in order to achieve its full expressive potential. One can notice how Picasso was influenced and perhaps everybody shall agree that we have seen a whole new world of art after the creation of "the Demoiselles d'Avignon". I believe in terms of approach to the subject  and applying colours ,he has had adopted E...

                                      Jan Van Eyck : The betrothal of the Arnolfini. 1434 The painter whose revolutionary discoveries started a new era in history of paintings. One can notice his observation of nature is more patient than ever before, his knowledge of details is more exact. In his paintings landscapes we feel trees ,building and other things leading back to the city and to the horizon. It seems that he was able to produce every minute detail on his picture that one can count the hairs of the horses or on the fur trimmings of the rider's costume. One can even notice the light on the horse's eye and creases in it's skin. Van Eyck achieved the illusion of nature by patiently adding detail upon detail till his painting became  like a mirror of the visible world while Florentine artists were busy in learning perspective. To achieve the perfect detail he invented oil pain...

The artist is known for his mastery of action, his paintings resemble scenes on stage. Against a backdrop of landscape or buildings, action is made clear by  balancing of movements and handling of lights that is carefully planned as a theatrical performance. We see clearly a new approach which is very much original and spontaneous.His characters are expressive and dramatic.

" An artist should never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of style, prisoner of reputation, prisoner of success. "     by - Henri Matisse Quote like this reminds us the values of human life, it's not only important for an artist but for all of those who are trapped by the test  of success or reputation. In this illusionary world it is hard to understand or rather I should say hard to overcome our inner challenges that is conflicts ,loosing reputation, style, fan following or earnings etc . Wise people like Matisse guide us for not to be a prisoner of ourselves , if our soul is dominated by fear of losing success then we may block our abilities of welcoming new ideas, we stop experiment and  slowly slowly start accepting or groom our brain that we are capable of doing up  to certain limitations,we start measuring our capacity and expect miracles. I'm a great admirer of Henry Matisse, his contribution is great, his works are never ending source of ...