New Delhi: A cross-European bicycle trip, the love for bright colours, lifelong struggle with mental health and poverty–all of this shapes the works of artist Gopal Ghose. His paintings, filled with the brightest of colours, mask the pain and trauma he experienced from the Bengal famine of 1943 and the Noakhali riots to personal loss and setbacks.
An exhibition titled ‘Flower of Fire: The Life and Art of Gopal Ghose’ was unveiled on 22 December at the DAG gallery in New Delhi to showcase the artist whose craftsmanship was unparalleled. A burst of colours, a montage of lines, and occasionally, sweeping landscapes dominated the third floor of DAG’s exhibition space—as bright and enchanting as the flower arrangements at the entrance. It was an ode to the creative evolution and artistic trajectory from the 1930s to Ghose’s final days. Having witnessed the freedom struggle and Partition, the artist died in a free India on 30 July 1980.
Another exhibition of the works of English painter William Hodges, which is also underway at DAG, only emphasises Ghose’ mastery over his craft when viewed in contrast.
“If Hodges’ were the first independent views of India, Ghose’s paintings are excellent examples of the impact of modernism on Indian art. Between them, they serve up history and allow us to exult in how art is continuously being influenced and re-shaped by the times in which it is created,” said Ashish Anand, CEO and Managing Director of DAG.
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Beyond the canvas
Mostly untitled, Ghose’ bright and colourful paintings barely hint at the deeply troubled life lived by the artist. A painting, which documents the birth of his daughter, is simply titled ‘Baby’. The painting is significant because Ghose and his wife had lost their first child during childbirth and which possibly also triggered an addiction to alcohol to cope with his despair.
A Bengali modernist and member of the art collective called the Calcutta Group, Ghose was lauded by Rabindranath Tagore and India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He didn’t limit himself to the canvas, and wrote about science, politics, philosophy and ethics. His keen observations of life showed in his artistic expression. The most prized possession of the artist was possibly a copy of The Discovery of India gifted to him by Nehru.
Born in 1913, Ghose witnessed turbulent socio-political upheavals in his lifetime from the Bengal famine, India’s struggle for Independence and Noakhali riots. Famine makes its way into his detailed line sketches. Many of his works are a visual catalogue of what people experienced during the period, and his own thoughts about it.
Short on funds, Ghose would sometimes even lack the money to buy materials for his art. That led to him using a wide variety of mediums to express himself–ink, oil, gouache, watercolour, graphite and even sketch pens.
Nature is intrinsic to Ghose’ works. His sketch of a monkey is titled Monkey + Nature = ManO Art. Blooming flowers, potted plants, wildflowers, and tree branches with birds, find their way into his landscapes.
Scenes from the countryside—boats, huts to workers in the field form a new language on his canvas.
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Memory and art
Despite continuing to struggle with mental health problems, his paintings remained a grand celebration of nature. Many evoke the grandeur of Rashtrapati Bhawan’s Mughal Gardens or Amrit Udyan as it’s now called.
A dedicated journal writer, Ghose documented his thoughts and feelings continually, through multiple stays in various hospitals for treatment. He continued to sketch scenes from within the hospital, and things he observed during his confinement.
“The continuous time stamps, marked by unusual hours in the early mornings and late at night suggest a disruption of sleep patterns and possibly episodes of delirium,” writes Kanupriya Sharma, Project Manager, Exhibitions and Publications, DAG.
A lifelong struggle with poverty, social upheavals, personal loss and mental health, however, yielded beauty that captured a moment in time, a vision of a world that now exists in memory and art.
(Edited by Ratan Priya)