Since folklore was associated with the Indian identity, many artists who were part of the Bengal School of Thought adopted these themes and painted scenes from Indian mythology and epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. A few of these artists were Laxman Pai and Ganesh Pyne. Apart from them Raja Ravi Verma and Srilankan Artist George Keyt are also famously known to depict mythological characters in their works. Some young contemporary artists include painter Vasudeo Kamath, illustrator Anirudh Sainath and artist Jayasri Burman.
Ganesh Pyne’s works have extensively included depictions of scenes from the Epic Mahabharata. He was brought up in a religious atmosphere and recollects his grandmother telling him these mythological stories. He later incorporated them in the majority of his work. The above painting is called ‘Charioteer’ and is inspired by a scene from the epic Mahabharata. Pyne has depicted the chariot of Arjuna on one side with a half-painted horse on which there is a silhouette of Lord Krishna. Here the artist has shown the agony of Arjuna over unwillingness to fight the battle against his loved ones.
Raja Ravi Verma
This painting depicts Lord Vishnu and his wives on Shesh Nag. This artwork was displayed at the India Art Fair 2020 earlier this year and caught many eyes owing to its realistic yet mythical representation of Lord Vishnu.
George Keyt
Image Courtesy: Dhoomimal Gallery Collection
George Keyt is a Srilankan by nationality, but since Sri Lankan and Indian cultures are very similar, he drew inspiration from the Indian Folktales. This ink on paper artwork is a scene from the story about the Indian river Kaveri.
Vasudeo Kamath
Vasudeo Kamath is an alumnus of Sir J. J. School of Arts and enjoys painting mythological characters in his works. His artwork titled ‘Heart is where soul is’ is revered as one of his bests. It is an interesting representation of how the stories pour out into real life. He is seen painting Lord Ram, Sita and Laxman while talking to Hanuman who is seemingly floating in his studio.
Anirudh Sainath
This illustration depicts a modern representation of Lord Ganesha on his wahan (vehicle) and has a game inspired aesthetics to it. This only shows the appeal and popularity of the mythological characters in the Hindu religion.
Art in all its dimensions – tribal, rock, ancient or contemporary – is today a well established discipline all over the world. It is clear that it is important to study in detail this aspect of the cultural heritage of humankind. Canvas painting Increasing interest in this area has also led to a healthy questioning of certain theoretical frameworks that had formed the unquestioned base for most of research in Art. Today, the old sytlistic and other chronologies are being questioned, and there is considerable reliance on studies based on comparative ethnographic data, in the interpretation of Art, especially Rock and ethnographic or what one labels as “tribal”. Equally important is the awareness of the limitations of this research, especially because the subjectivity of the researcher’s own – personal and social – viewpoint is a crucial variable. Subjectivity here does not merely refer to the individual, it also points to the cultural biases, say, the Euro-centrism whereby all Art traditions are judged, e.g., Palaeolithic art was supposed to have emerged from this geographic region, along with perceived cultural significances and attributes within certain ‘evolutionary’ schemes.
This focus on Euro-centric – Western – view along with its frameworks, methodologies was then sought to be duplicated in other parts of the world. Of course, many have realised the futility of this kind of this enterprise because it lead to a tremendous neglect of understanding indigenous traditions, their theoretical models and regional temporal distributions. The error is now being rectified, and the interest is now shifting, because of this very questioning of older categories and pigeon-holing of the various categories of Art. This paper stresses the point that Art maybe viewed within certain universal, creative and general artistic traditions of humankind as such. For instance, is it not possible to understand and visualise “tribal” Art within wider possibilities, in the sense of a cosmogonic and universal creative act whereby this common cultural heritage provides a link for the contemporary dilemma which faces us today?
The nature of Art, as a universal phenomenon, is certainly known in the sense of being a cultural manifestation of all societies, past and present. Many different populations lay claim to this heritage in terms of their cultural and political identity. It is also in terms of humankind’s search for its common identity – psychological and biological – that Art transcends regional identities. In the application of sophisticated techniques, taking into account ecological conditions, the cultural correlates and contexts, the study of “tribal” art is also a universal phenomenon.
The present paper hints at some of these aspects of universality, as a creative act. It is important to show the background and the emergence of Art itself within the modern context. For instance, one can show how Art as a concept is limited by specific notions governed by various cultural connotations, e.g., more by monolithic definitions and the like, rather than by other sensibilities and freedom of expression that maybe common to all of human kind. The contemporary image of art as mere aesthetic beauty, in terms of formal qualities – beyond mere utilitarian purposes – is also a limited way of recreating the perception of other cultures in the production of the images of Art.
In short, the modern ways of seeing Art by and large ignores any form of a world vision, i.e., there is little consideration of any cosmic view. This is an ability which all human beings have, irrespective of time and place, that allow one to be in touch with the supernatural or the noumenal dimension. This kind of knowledge was widely prevalent amongst nonindustrial traditional societies who had their own way to know, to express and to manifest it as Art. For instance, one knows that there is continuity both in time and space between Rock Art and such traditions which continue even until today. It is in this sense that ethnology, myths, beliefs, other traditions throw alternate ways of viewing Art. However, in the modern context of the rapid growth of industrialised urbanised settings even in developing countries, the older traditions are fast vanishing and are being lost as has happened already in the Euro-American context.
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