When most people think of Indian art, intricate sculptures and ancient temples come to mind. Indian art for many is part of an ancient history — vestiges of a religious past that have somehow petered out and exist only in museums next to medieval paintings and bronze statues. It is precisely this misconception that "Bharat Ratna! Jewels of Modern Indian Art," now at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA), strives to dismantle.
"Jewels of Modern Indian Art" is a selection of 16 paintings from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Rajiv Jahangir Chaudhri. The show displays works from some of the most important Indian artists who emerged around the time of Indian independence in 1947.
The artwork is a far cry from the elaborate statues of Hindu gods and goddesses associated with ancient Indian art. As much a part of the modern movement as any other art, these pieces explore new realms of contemporary art while holding on to an Indian context.
The result is a beautiful and inquisitive body of work, both of Indian trends and personal battles. The exhibit is a testament to the vibrancy of Indian art beyond the Middle Ages and into the modern era.
"Ganesh Darwaza," one of the most striking images in the exhibit, is an oil painting from 1964 by Maqbool Fida Husain. The painting shows three figures: an elephant at the left, a tiger at the right and a composite form with the body of a man and the head of an elephant that references the Hindu god Ganesha.
The landscape is broken up into blocks of color, abstracted buildings and what looks to be a cave. The colors are rich, each one laid against another in bold, flat swaths that create a sense of emotion and a dreamlike landscape.
Husain specifically references colors and figures in his painting that are part of an older Indian visual history. By placing these references in a modern context, he testifies to their continued life and importance in contemporary Indian culture. Husain does not abandon the old India in favor of a new modern vocabulary; instead, he seeks through his painting to create a new modern Indian identity for a young nation.
Other paintings hold more haunting imagery. The oil painting by Tyeb Mehta entitled "Falling Figure with Bird" (1988) grapples with the tumultuous fight for Indian independence and the division of the country into India and modern−day Pakistan.
Mehta's style is more abstract than Husain's, though forms are still identifiable. "Falling Figure with Bird" depicts a human whose body is twisted in an agonized fetal position, falling head first through a brown canvas with a small square of blue in the top right corner. Falling with him is a bird, whose beak is open and whose wings are apparently useless as he plummets downward. Both figures appear to be screaming, and the human's agony is depicted in his twisted fingers and distorted frame.
Mehta was inspired by the minimalist abstract art of New York during the late '60s, but the violence in his imagery comes from a trip to the front lines of the 1947 war with Pakistan. Mehta combines sparse yet powerful imagery with abstraction to reflect the turmoil and emotional pain created by the bloody battle over the border between Pakistan and India.
The artists of "Jewels of Modern Indian Art" all battle with the aftermath of India's war for independence. Whether coping with the horrors of war or reflecting on the continued importance of ancient culture, artists in the exhibit use their images to create an identity for India in the modern era.
After India broke from the bonds of colonialism, Indians no longer had culture handed to them — they could again create their own. In the art world, this meant exploring what it meant to be Indian and carving out a future for themselves. The goal of the artists in this time period was to establish a new Indian identity, for both themselves and for the new nation slowly emerging from turmoil.
--
Bharat Ratna! Jewels of Modern Indian Art
At the Indian Paintings Gallery, through Aug. 22
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Avenue of the Arts, 465 Huntington Ave.
617-267-9300
