From colonial shadows to independent voices: The rise of Indian modern art post-1947

The story of Indian modern art after Independence is, in many respects, the story of a nation discovering its own voice. This came after centuries of borrowed idioms, with academic realism and European naturalism dominating the curriculum in India’s art schools and institutions and leaving an enduring legacy of the British Raj. By fusing Indian mythology with European oil techniques, Raja Ravi Varma emerged as a master of this school and demonstrated that the two worlds could coexist.

But just as evident as the desire for political freedom was the desire for artistic freedom. By 1947, artists nationwide were prepared to let go of the colonial preoccupations and move on to daring experimentation, intensely intimate stories and visual languages grounded in their worlds and personal histories.

In the eastern part of the country, the Bengal School promoted an indigenous modernism that rejected colonial aesthetics under the leadership of Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, and their group at Santiniketan. This school of thought, led by luminaries like Nandlal Bose, Jamini Roy, Ramkinkar Baij and Benode Behari Mukherjee, believed that the art of the nation should be rooted in its tradition and indigenous customs, even as they kept in touch with and embraced emerging radical art movements of the West. On the other hand, Amrita Sher-Gil had already bridged worlds by first training in Paris and then immersing herself in rural India to paint with a truth and empathy that foreshadowed the post-Independence ethos.

However, the formation of the Progressive Artists’ Group (PAG) in 1947 became a watershed moment in the nation’s artistic history. Founded by FN Souza with fellow artists, including SH Raza, MF Husain, KH Ara, HA Gade and SA Bakre, among others, the group completely disapproved of both colonial academicism and the limited revivalism of the past. Rather, they embraced the vibrancy of global modernism, including surrealism, expressionism and cubism, and infused them with uniquely Indian sensibilities and narratives. Their canvases served as declarations of Independence on par with the Tricolour’s unfurling in Delhi.

This wave of new modernism did not remain confined to Bombay and spread well beyond it in the ensuing decades. A new generation arose in Bengal, addressing modern fears with emotional ferocity and technical skill. Ganesh Pyne created dreamlike allegorically charged worlds in his tempera paintings by drawing on the city’s underlying themes of violence and memory. The intimate textures of Calcutta life — its dilapidated mansions, middle-class interiors, and faces etched with unsaid stories — were captured by Bikash Bhattacharjee with his uncanny realism.

In addition, several other important artist collectives emerged in different parts of the country, influencing the conversations about the art of new India. Under J Swaminathan’s direction, Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal created a space where tribal painters, folk artists and urban modernists could collaborate. Swaminathan himself questioned strict artistic hierarchies, arguing that it was acceptable for several visual traditions to coexist without one erasing the others. The colonial model, which had marginalised indigenous forms, was drastically different from this. In the South, the Cholamanda Artist's Village, founded in 1966, became another pioneering experiment in the artist-led community living in India.

The women artists also started to establish a more noticeable presence in this post-Independence narrative with their unique visual lexicon. While Arpita Singh’s figurative paintings interwove the political, personal and fantastical in layered tapestries of colour and form, minimalist creations by artists such as Zarina Hashmi and Nasreen Mohamedi provided a subdued yet potent counterpoint to the more expressive styles. Through historical narrative paintings or glowing, icon-like portraits that combined the sacred and the commonplace, artists such as Nilima Sheikh and Anjolie Ela Menon also made a crucial contribution to the narrative of post-independence art.

By the end of the 20th century, Indian art had moved far from the colonial ateliers where it first entered the modern era. Global idioms had been assimilated, modified and transformed into a language all its own, one that could contain the complexity of a recently Independent country, including its contradictions, plurality, modern aspirations and ancient memories.

Whether it is in the allegorical depths of Pyne, the pulsating bindus of Raza, or the bold strokes of Husain’s galloping horses, the artists of this revolutionary era have become India’s modernist icons over the years. The visual imagination of the country is still shaped by their work, which encourages future generations to investigate, reevaluate and redefine what it means to produce art with an Indian voice.

— The writer is director, client relations, AstaGuru