Two pillars of modern Indian art fall in a month

In the past one month, two stalwarts of modern Indian art passed away—Gogi Saroj Pal on January 27 and A. Ramachandran on February 10, both in New Delhi. Saroj Pal was 78 while Ramachandran was 89.

The passing of both Saroj Pal and Ramachandran marks the gradual fading away of the generation that contributed immensely to building upon the foundation of modern Indian art that their seniors (the generation comprising V. S. Gaitonde, S. H. Raza, M. F. Husain, F. N. Souza, Ram Kumar, among others) had laid soon after Independence. The efforts of this generation were as pathbreaking and as painstaking as those of their elders, the result of which is the fact that Indian modern art successively charted its own independent course, without becoming a puny copy of European modern art.

Though different from each in almost every aspect of their life and art, both Gogi Saroj Pal and A. Ramachandran had one thing in common—they both chose to get out of their comfort zones early on in life to forge a new idiom for their art, thereby adding a rich dimension to the vast repertoire of modern Indian art. What is significant is that they did not chase the market but the latter chased them, in what can be called the ultimate triumph for an artist that paints for the sake of art.

Getting to Know Gogi Saroj Pal (1945-2024)

Gogi Saroj Pal is not an unfamiliar name for those keeping even a casual eye on the Indian art scene. She was that rare woman artist who picked up her brush to comment on the condition of women in society—on its universality and not necessarily restricting it to any particular community or country—but did it with an aesthetic flair that made it an easy candidate for a prominent display on the walls of any living room. Yes, one could call her art to be laced with activism, but it was so pithy, so sharp, so layered, so nuanced and so beautiful at the same time that it was difficult not to engage with it.

Born in Uttar Pradesh in 1945, she studied art at different institutions—Banasthali, Rajasthan; Government College of Arts and Crafts, Lucknow; and College of Art, New Delhi. She eventually settled in New Delhi where she lived with her artist husband, Ved Nayyar.

Some of the works or series of works that she came to be known for early on were the ‘Kamadhenu’ series, in which she portrayed the condition of women as ‘kamadhenus’ or the wish-fulfilling cows of Hindu mythology, featuring women beautifully decked up but chained by patriarchal society’s rules, just like the mythological cows; the ‘Nayika’ series, the ‘Kinnari’ series, and many more. The trope was similar in all; just like the ‘Kamadhenu’ series, the other works too depicted the stark contrast in the lives of women in society, and those could be transposed to any society worldwide.

In most of these paintings, Saroj Pal showed female figures unclothed, but in a manner that it was not their nudity that caught the attention of the onlooker but the statement that the artist wanted to make.

At the turn of the millennium, her works underwent a perceptible change in their treatment. While the subject remained the woman in society, the works seemed to turn inwards upon personal reflections. The protagonist in these later works came fully clothed and often surrounded in a splash of flowers.

The Impactful A. Ramachandran (1935-2024)

Anybody with even a passing interest in contemporary trends in Indian art would be familiar with huge canvases full of pink lotuses, broad green, textured leaves, and the pond eco-system, often accompanied by figures of shy women of the Bhil tribe of Rajasthan. That was the rich, stunning natural world created by A. Ramachandran, who was not in the least apologetic about painting all that was fine and beautiful. In an interview with this writer a few years ago, he said, “I was painting grief, turmoil, frustration and the reality of life. But there came a time when I realised that as an artist my duty is also to bring joy in life when the real world is so full of pathos.” This beauty rose up on his horizon when he was once travelling by road from Delhi to Udaipur. He came across a village of Bhil tribals outside Udaipur, the colourful dresses of their women as dazzling as the pristine natural surroundings of their habitat. Thus began his love affair with this natural beauty, that reflected in what are commonly referred to as his lotus paintings.

Born in Attingal, Kerala, in 1935, Ramachandran studied Malayalam literature before joining Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, to study art under the likes of Nandalal Bose and Ramkinkar Baij. He also pursued doctoral studies at the Visva Bharati University on the mural paintings of Kerala. Around this time, Kala Bhavana, the arts department of Visva Bharati University, commissioned Ramachandran to copy the ‘Kumar Sambhava’ panels of Kochi’s Mattancheri Palace for its museum. He was assisted by Tan Chameli, an artist of Chinese and Indian parentage, who was born in Santiniketan and was named Chameli by Rabindranath Tagore. Ramachandran would go on to marry this artist, who we know by the name Chameli Ramachandran. Ramachandran devoted his art to depicting human suffering in society in the first half of his career but left all that to translate nature’s beauty on his canvas in his later years. A multifaceted personality, Ramachandran achieved great success in illustrating children’s books, most prominently in Japan, where a museum in Miyazaki has his creations on permanent display.

Among other achievements credited to Ramachandran are his prominent role in developing the arts department of Jamia Millia Islamia university, New Delhi, which he had joined as a lecturer in 1965. In his long and illustrious career, Ramachandran created art in myriad media, such as bronze sculptures, ceramics, murals and more.

While serving as the chairman of the Kerala Lalit Kala Akademi, Ramachandran organised the first major exhibition outside Kerala of the art of Raja Ravi Varma, one of India’s nine national treasure artists, which was held at the National Museum in New Delhi in 1993. The legacy of both Gogi Saroj Pal and A. Ramachandran will hopefully live on with more and more young Indian artists willing to take risks and paint their hearts’ wishes with conviction.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based journalist)