Leaning to the West

Untitled, watercolour on paper, 1978.

“Art should be international and independent” was the guiding motto of the Calcutta Group to which Gopal Ghosh belonged. This artist of the 40s fame is having an exhibition in Bengal Shilpalaya, which takes the occasion to celebrate his birth centenary to present his works from the 1930s to the eighties. The Calcutta group believed that art could progress or develop if we always look back to our past traditions. From the Egyptian and Assyrian art to the paintings of the Dutch, Italian and French masters, we must study them deeply and cull what is best from them. During the past 300 years India has made great strides to understand world techniques and forms. Despite turning to the West for inspiration, in colour, form and structure, French modern art did form the core of this collective group. Gopal Ghosh, due to existing communal riots of I946, took to art that was more than purely representative. There was a combining of bright bold colours and images. He was surely influenced by the 'Blaue Reiter' and 'Die Brucke' artists in being impressionistic and having figures that were charged in colour and form. But they did not carry the angular forms or the angst-ridden contours of those artists. He rejected the riotous colours of the Fauvists, according to Dr S. Kumar Mallik. In rhythm and pattern his images were those that had the suggestion of Nature. “The transparency and lucidity of his colours contrasted between the warmth of the red and softness of the green”, comments Dr S K Mallik.

Gopal Ghosh

Gopal Ghoshe's 'Jaipur' - a watercolour on paper, shows the city's vast expanse of water, and sky. Its domed buildings on the steps of the vast river bank with the reflection of the building, hills trees and green and brown sky is recorded with ingenuity. His mixed media on paper done in 1950 and 1956, bring landscapes in yellow, mustard, pale ultramarine and yellow ochre. One feels that one is crossing the chasms of the mountains or walking the plains, lined with trees, near the mountains. The landscape makes one dream and hope with spontaneity. In his 'Untitled' (I954), shows a woman in a long flowing dress, carrying her belongings in a scarlet cloth. She looks up at a tree that grows in the dry land. There is limitless beauty in the depiction of the dry ground and the blue, white and grey sky without rain.

The artist's measure of dexterity is obvious in his delicate delineation of a bird on a tree branch. While the tree with its daintily done leaves is done each twig at a time, the feathers of the bird can be counted – even the ones over and under its beak. One can say the same of the flowers he has sketched and the thatched huts he has portrayed in his pen and ink sketches. The same applies to his watercolour on paper Circa I950. In this a woman is seen crossing the ripe tall stalks of the field with the myriad trees at the back. Near at hand is a mass of gray green clump of hedges. The quick strokes and the combination of colours speak of Fauvism and one sees the influence of the German 'Blaue Reiter'. The squiggle of burnt sienna and black with the chocolate flecks again speak of the influence of the French and German painters of the post First World War period. The same can be said of the watercolours on paper (1948). The red, green and black creation and the orchard scene with the green, yellow and grey growth in bloom in the backdrop and the tree with its burnt-sienna and rich green foliage speak of a world pulsating with forms and colours and rich Nature.

Untitled, pen and ink on paper, 1957.

His 1947 watercolour on paper also speaks of a post modern vision in which trees and barbed wire or fence are transformed into green and white blobs on a mustard path. Again we feel the influence of the epoch-making forms and shapes of the Western discoveries. His outline of Akbar's Fort speaks of care for detailed lines to bring in the perfection of architecture. Gopal Ghose's sketch in which he brings in Picasso reminds one of some of the sketches of Zainul Abedin who was also, at one time, definitely influenced by the West. Ghose, who died in 1980, has had exhibitions in London, Calcutta and New Delhi.
The exhibition ends on 18th October.

Untitled, watercolour on paper, 1948.