[Somerset]

Seems like a great show on Indian art set to open at the Philadelphia Art Museum: http://www.nytimes.c...ign/20bose.html

Indian art and literature have really made an impact in the US in recent years.

[WonderWomanUSA]

I wonder if that show will travel; it would be nice to see it at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum sometime next year.

[KABAARY]

Aah ! Nandalal Bose...a great painter and an even greater teacher....

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Word is that contemporary Indian art is the next sensation on the international market

I don't know about that but certainly Indian art seems grossly undervalued when one sees the exorbitant prices prevailing in other markets. Perhaps a reason for that (apart from the obvious aspect of insufficient marketing and PR) was that Indian art was rather Indo centric so to say in terms of subject rather than having a cross cultural appeal. As a possibly bad illustrative eg. [and certainly a dated one at that], Raja Ravi Verma  was a superb painter by any standards but his very Indian religious and other such themes would obviously not appeal to those not familiar/identifying with such themes. Illustrating further on living artists, would those not familiar, appreciate Jogen Chowdhury's art which drew heavily from the Bengali alpana drawing ? Or Thota Vaikuntam's works on Telengana women...or Lalu Prasad Shaw's works heavily influenced by Kalighat pat..or...?

However, we have had painters (and now more so in recent times) who paint a universal canvas so to say. Amongst the younger (relatively speaking) prominent artists, we have Bose Krishnamachari (love his "stretched bodies" series !), Paresh Maity (equally proficient in oil/acrylic and watercolours), Samir Mondal (the Watercolour Man !), Vijender Sharma (such amazing realism and philosophical thought) for instance. There is Atul Dodiya too, of course, who is mentioned in the article (though his themes don't quite appeal to me).

Even if it is not a case of Ars Artis Gratia, Indian art to my mind has great potential purely from an investment point of view (and btw, if you are interested in the investment angle, don't buy the Indian artists from foreign galleries but from the India based ones - I'm amazed at how these artists are quoted at so much (obscenely) higher a price in foreign galleries when compared to the prices quoted within India).

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Mr. Dodiya, who has recently set auction records for new Indian art, is represented here by prints of scenes from the epic “Ramayana” inspired by Bose.

I have my reservations about auctions. They seem to be a game which lead to artificially inflated prices and seem to have skullduggery afoot.

Edited by KABAARY, 20 August 2008 - 11:28 PM.

[dzibead]

WonderWomanUSA, on Aug 20 2008, 09:37 AM, said:

I wonder if that show will travel; it would be nice to see it at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum sometime next year.

It was in San Diego earlier this year, February to May, so I suspect it won't be heading back across the country to SF.  

[Somerset]

KABAARY, on Aug 20 2008, 06:57 PM, said:

Aah ! Nandalal Bose...a great painter and an even greater teacher....

However, we have had painters (and now more so in recent times) who paint a universal canvas so to say. Amongst the younger (relatively speaking) prominent artists, we have Bose Krishnamachari (love his "stretched bodies" series !), Paresh Maity (equally proficient in oil/acrylic and watercolours), Samir Mondal (the Watercolour Man !), Vijender Sharma (such amazing realism and philosophical thought) for instance. There is Atul Dodiya too, of course, who is mentioned in the article (though his themes don't quite appeal to me).

The work of another Bengali artist, the late Jamini Roy, seems to pop up frequently in the US. He is well represented at our local museum, and I think I saw some of his paintings during a special exhibition at the National Museum of Asian Art in DC several years ago. Is his work popular in India?

Very sorry to read of your son's Dengue. It's not right for children to suffer such painful diseases. I hope he will recover soon.

[KABAARY]

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Is his work popular in India?

Yes, indeed. But not many of his works are easily available as he no longer lives and most works are in private collections and museums. They sell for a very high price though as and when they occassionally pop up.

Edited by KABAARY, 21 August 2008 - 02:42 PM.

[cyberhippie]

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Amongst the younger (relatively speaking) prominent artists, we have Bose Krishnamachari (love his "stretched bodies" series !),

Vivid stuff KABAARY,

I'm sure you'll enjoy this link

Bose Krishnamachari

[KABAARY]

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I'm sure you'll enjoy this link

I did not, in a way, as each time I see his works I agonise over the fact that I cannot afford to buy even one of them.

Regarding some others mentioned, have a look here :
Vijender Sharma
Paresh Maity
Samir Mondal

Those interested in art and happenning to be in Delhi from the 22nd to 24th this month, go to :
The India Art Summit

[Hyderabadi]

KABAARY, on Aug 20 2008, 01:57 PM, said:

Or Thota Vaikuntam's works on Telengana women...

Here's some work by Thota Vaikuntham:
http://www.indianart...name.php?aid=64

Also, Thota Tharani is an artist and movie art director ( National award for best art direction, Bombay and Indian ).
http://www.thotathar...com/index2.html

[KABAARY]

Aah, the Andhra connection !

From the same site....
Laxma Goud

[Hyderabadi]

KABAARY, on Aug 21 2008, 02:55 PM, said:

Aah, the Andhra connection !

There are other artists from Andhra, local favorites:

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If there is a good looking girl, it's customary for Andhra people to say she looks like "Baapu Geesina Bomma". This is the greatness of Bapu. In fact, the phrase Bapu Bomma (Bapu's painting) has become synonymous with a beautiful Telugu girl.

http://www.bapubomma.com/
http://www.bapubomma.com/g1.htm

And Vaddadi Papayya, whose paintings used to be the cover of Chandamama magazine.

[KABAARY]

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a beautiful Telugu girl

Oh, the gorgeous Telugu women ! Old memories revisited...Gayathri who lovingly cooked for me so often (can't forget the pasta in gunpowder) and would be so touched seeing the tears streaming down by eyes while eating her dishes...little did she realise that it was all because of the spices.

What actually led to the seperation was her insistence on making me gorge on Kakinada Kazha - sorry buddy, but I never liked it.

[Hyderabadi]

KABAARY, on Aug 21 2008, 03:21 PM, said:

Kakinada Kazha - sorry buddy, but I never liked it.

No need to be sorry, I don't like them much too, and besides I'm from Telangana. But there's plenty else to like from that region.

[KABAARY]

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besides I'm from Telangana

Sekhar...Telangana...hmmm....which part of Telangana if you don't mind my asking ?

[Hyderabadi]

KABAARY, on Aug 21 2008, 03:51 PM, said:

Sekhar...Telangana...hmmm....which part of Telangana if you don't mind my asking ?

Mahbubnagar Dist.

[KABAARY]

Thanks for the reply....

From the land of the Kohinoor....

[Hyderabadi]

KABAARY, on Aug 21 2008, 04:00 PM, said:

From the land of the Kohinoor....

Reason why I still hold on to some land there, in the desperate hope..

[noflylist]

Do you support balkanisation, err... formation of Telangana state!

[Hyderabadi]

retiredflylist, on Aug 23 2008, 12:40 PM, said:

Do you support balkanisation, err... formation of Telangana state!

This is going far off topic... But, good question. If the state has to be split, splitting it into three parts would be appropriate imho. Get it done with. This is nothing new, this demand for separate Telangana. Happened back in 1969 too - another politician another agenda.

As far as I'm concerned, I'd prefer India/AP/Hyderabad.... to remain exactly the same as I left it 7-8 years ago, but that's asking for way too much I guess. What was that about "The only constant is change"?

[Hyderabadi]

Getting back on topic.  

Here's a site with works of the great masters, contemporary art, tribal art..:

http://www.indianart...com/index.shtml

From the same site, a page on Story of Indian Art: An Overview:  http://www.indianart...ion/index.shtml