28 March,2021 05:23 AM IST | Mumbai | Sumedha Raikar Mhatre
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Born five months before India's Independence, painter-illustrator Sridhar Ambadas Ambhore has received seven state-level awards. His distinctive illustrations at one point ran parallel to the works of greats like KK Hebbar and AA Almelkar. But Ambhore, a self-taught artist, does not inhabit popular memory. Few will quote him at an art fair symposium, and fewer would know about his current life in Ahmednagar, where the artist (originally from Vidarbha) has settled down after voluntarily retiring from a post master's duties.
Ambhore's second career as an illustrator in fact, has been a matter of chance interactions with literary magazine editors who recognised the government official's talent. In a supportive, but crucial role, Ambhore has so far illustrated 400 book covers and contributed 1,000 evocative line drawings to prestigious anthologies and Diwali numbers. His faceless human figures, like the Potraj in his pen and ink work titled Kadaklaxmi, speak for the voiceless. Renowned playwright Vijay Tendulkar interviewed him on Doordarshan way back in 1987, a memory he cherishes, though he told this columnist that he wished he had archived the video cassette Tendulkar gifted him after their 180-minute interaction.
Ambhore's oeuvre, and to some extent his personal story, now is available for the lay reader's appreciation in the newly-released volume on Visual Art of Maharashtra, lending special focus on artists of the Bombay School and other art institutions from the late 18th to early 21st century. The 960-page encyclopaedia, published by the Pundole Art Gallery, is (more than) the English translation of the Marathi Drishyakala Kosh, 2013, brought out by the Hindustan Prakashan Sanstha. The English volume adds 27 new artists, like Ambhore, whose place in history should be spelt out. The volume's lead editors Suhas Bahulkar and Deepak Ghare remain constant, while two artists with bilingual expertise - Sudhir Patwardhan and Dilip Ranade - have worked as associate editors.
Team encyclopaedia is a commendable feat in translation and cooperation. It stands on the shoulders of 20-odd contributors-rewriters-text editors who laboured for robust, taut and objectively-written bio notes, so as to avoid subjective assessments. The core team was supported by a large net of private and government institutions/museums, at Panaji, Sangli, Alibaug and Nagpur, with photographs of art works. The Directorate of Archaeology was forthcoming in sharing footage.
In a project of such scale and scope, parametres and cut-off points - no artist born after 1960, work life of 25 years etc - are open to enquiry. Some choices are bound to raise eyebrows. The team has allowed entries of some individuals, who served the visual arts by way of propogation/dissemination, not necessarily practice; also
crafts have been kept out of the ambit. Similarly, certain commercial/applied arts (like photography) are represented only in the form of pioneers.
The range of applied arts, included in the volume is educational. It sensitises the reader to the visual art elements in the supposedly commonplace aspects of life. Often the visual vocabulary in calendars, posters, billboards, press ads, calligraphic signage, cartoons, company logos etc remain unsung or is perceived as "lesser" because it has an immediate price tag. This volume takes due note of the experimentation in applied art streams.
The team, and publisher Dadiba Pundole, is cognisant of the myriad ways in which the same project can be executed. There is a mention of 40-odd artists who could not be included either due to lack of information or refusal of the artist to become a part of the project. Like in most projects, which include diverse minds, this one, too, had its share of collisions. One debate revolved around the possibility of halving the volume into two. Pundole felt a single tome has an entirety and a logistical wholeness to it. Some senior editors favoured lighter options. It was, however, decided that a book which arrests around 150 years of art history can deservedly weigh three kilos, especially when it has been rendered in a light easy-to-grasp writing style.
The encyclopaedia is an undivided platter of dissimilar energies - fine artists, sculptors, commercial artists who stand apart in chronology, academic orientation and cultural backdrops - Raja Ravi Varma, GK Mhatre, Jivya Soma Mashe, MF Husain, Prabhakar Kolte, Mario Miranda, Pilloo Pochkhanawala, Sunil Gawde, Gopi Kukde - each name evoking an enviable body of work and an individual worldview. Some names pack multiple realms within themselves, like DG Godse (1914-92) - a painter, illustrator, book designer, stage designer, historian and writer on aesthetics.
Two distinguished new names speak for Bombay's receptivity. First, William Ewart Gladstone Solomon, principal of the Sir JJ School of Art (1918 to 1937), who championed the Bombay Revivalist School. The widely-travelled Solomon first introduced the Nude class and Mural class in JJ; he modelled the syllabus on the lines of London's Royal Academy. He encouraged artists like GH Nagarkar and JM Ahiwasi; he authored 18 books and was deeply invested in Indian art. The encyclopaedia carries his major works (oil on canvas), like the eye catchy The Indian Maiden and The Annunciation.
The second new entrant is Walter Langhammer, the painter-professor from Vienna, whose realistic paitings with refreshing colours reintroduced a bright India to Indians. His Gateway of India (1940) was displayed at Bombay Art Society exhibition; his depictions of the Jamshedpur Tata plant made waves; his one-man show was held at the convocation hall of the University of Mumbai in 1942. As his sphere of influence grew, his house and studio at Nepean Sea Road became open house Sunday adda. He was a guide and mentor to artists like AA Almelkar and Shankar Palsikar. He was among the people who convinced Sir Cowasji Jehangir to initiate an exclusive public gallery for art exhibitions. Langhammer was the first artist to display his works when the Jehangir Art gallery inaugurated in 1952.
The encyclopaedia makes no bones of the fact that it carries a brief for the Bombay School which has been misconstrued, often misrepresented, in art history accounts. The preface spells out what it sees as an erroneous position: "Bombay School followed and imitated only the British Academic style resulting in a confined and narrow path of realism." The bio notes, therefore are geared towards underscoring the exchange between realistic and abstract styles. Editor Ghare maintains that though Bombay School was perceived as constricting, its impact was acknowledged even by the Modernists. Similarly, there were many Bombay School art teachers like Charles Gerrard and Shankar Palsikar, who encouraged innovation. Abstract artists like VS Gaitonde, SH Raza and Akbar Padamsee who studied at the Sir JJ School of Art, later on became a part of the Modernist movement. Ghare calls it "a continual give-and-take, which deepened Indian art sensibility."
The making of the encyclopaedia has rested on zealous artists-writers who were committed to a deadline, come rain or pandemic. Its economics was driven by one art gallery owner who spent over R60 lakh production cost. The book's future journey now depends on all those who care for and spend for the effort.
Sumedha Raikar-Mhatre is a culture columnist in search of the sub-text. You can reach her at sumedha.raikar@mid-day.com
