When we speak of still life painting in India, we find that it does not go too far back in time, compared to the history of still life (as recorded) in the West. Though still life pervaded in Europe and the ancient world, it had fallen into decline and evolved in the 1600s as a genre in the Netherlands. It stood for more than just a breathtaking resemblance of day-to-day objects. The placement, framing, and composition of objects—including flowers, books, quills, and other acquisitions—bore narratives that served to either inculcate religious piety or moralise the viewer about the pitfalls of material pursuits. Many painters chose objects that were reflective of class and status, and packed their paintings with narratives that reinforced a message to the viewer.
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Before the arrival of the British, Indian art was mainly dominated by landscapes and figures. The figure occupied a prominent position in a large body of works, and any embellishments served either to enhance the setting or the narrative in which the figure remained central. Still life was introduced into the Indian art scene following an influx of Western ideas and practices. Under the influence of the Academic style, artists emulated not just the realistic techniques of western art, but also the subject matter. Hence, themes such as flower vases and fruit bowls featured frequently, stripped of the meaning invested in their European counterparts. Yet, Indian objects such as earthen pitchers served as a parallel to flower vases and fruit bowls, representing the simplicity and beauty of the bucolic..
As with every style and technique perceived as a Western import, still life was resurrected in the hands of the Modernists who experimented with the possibilities the genre offered. Krishnaji Howlaji Ara, a leading artist of his time, transformed still life painting with his unique approach to it. He worked mainly with watercolours, devising his own technique that lent his works a raw feel. Art critic Yashodhara Dalmia notes that the genre “was to come into its own” with him, and that “there was a consistent preoccupation with its metre and substance....A deliberate roughness in both drawing and applying paint is the most striking aspect of his still life paintings....the paint overflows from one object to another in a coagulated mass” (The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001, pgs. 129 – 133)..
Ara was not the only Modernist experimenting with style. Francis Newton Souza, recalled mainly for his jarring figurative drawings, also made many still life paintings of liturgical implements. Objects such as the chalice and monstrance would be distorted in his signature style, revealing his fascination and fear for the Roman Catholic Church. For artists like Sayed Haider Raza, still life was a stepping stone for the artistic idiom to evolve. Among the prominent modernists, M. F. Husain and Bikash Bhattacharjee also explored the genre while experimenting with style and technique.
The debate shifted from the mid-1980s onwards as new issues cropped up. A new generation began grappling with representing an India which was the product of globalisation. The emergence of installation art and new media meant that the allure and significance of traditional painting methods would assume less importance. Yet the canvas has its appeals, beckoning artists to continue expressing their concerns on its flat expanse. Subodh Gupta, one of the most well-known contemporaries, churns out mesmerising still-lifes of stainless steel vessels that are metaphorical of mass taste and the values of material production and consumption.
StoryLTD’s collection of still life paintings carries forward this continuing exploration of a centuries-old art form bequeathed to an independent India. We feature original still-life watercolour paintings by artists who are unafraid to try tested methods, as well as venture into new avenues to tap into the full potential of the genre.
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