Page 14 - The Arts Trust Souza The Centennial
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“I marched home indignantly and started furiously
painting in oils with a palette knife on a large piece of
plywood. I painted an azure nude with a still life and
landscape in the background. I finished the painting
in an hour of white heat.”
encounter with the Khajuraho sculptures is aesthetic principles. Souza’s contentious
reflected in his portrayal of classical full- stance against traditional Indian art
breasted female forms. The influence this underscored the group’s departure from
visit had on Souza continued to manifest the norm, embracing Western modernity
in the female forms seen in his work while grappling with their identity in
The Jealous Lover, painted in 1948. It draws contemporary India. This quest for identity,
inspiration from the ancient Indian temple despite its challenges, positioned the PAG
sculptures seen during his travels. The as pioneers of modern Indian art.
painting features a voluptuous woman Reintroducing the group’s intention in
with almond-shaped eyes in a yakshini the exhibition catalogue, Souza wrote: “I do
pose, rendered in vibrant green, yellow, not quite understand now, why we still call
and red, symbolising Souza’s complex our Group ‘Progressive’. We have changed
views on humanity, corruption, sexuality, all the chauvinist ideas and the Leftist
and religion. fanaticism which we had incorporated
The India Independence Exhibition in our manifesto at the inception of the
subsequently travelled to London for a Group... We found this in the course of
showcase at Burlington House, for which working an impossibility... the gulf between
the Bombay selection committee added the so-called people and the artists cannot
two works by Souza and one by Raza for be bridged. Today we paint with absolute
the modern section. freedom for contents and techniques,
The debut exhibition of the Progressives almost anarchic; save that we are governed
in 1949, held at the Bombay Art Society by one or two sound elemental and
Salon and inaugurated by Dr. Mulk Raj eternal laws, of aesthetic order, plastic
Anand, was a pivotal moment. A testament coordination and colour composition.”
to how much the group had evolved in less And indeed, each member had
than two years since its founding, the show individualistic artistic expressions—
came with a disclaimer of distance from the only common thing was their fierce
the 1947 manifesto. individuality, in terms of themes, styles,
Upon its founding, the PAG aimed to brushstrokes, life, mediums, and all other
foster a deeper connection between artists elements that inspire art. Summing up this
and society, influenced initially by Souza’s emotion perfectly in his review, Rudolph
ties to the Communist Party. Their early von Leyden wrote in The Times of India:
meetings reflected this ideological bent in “Those who go to this exhibition to look
spaces affiliated with leftist movements. for pretty pictures will be on the whole
However, by their 1949 exhibition, the disappointed. Those, who want painting to Souza photographed in his
group had shifted focus, moving away from be the expression of the deeper emotions studio in Belsize Square,
political rhetoric towards a commitment to and strivings of generation, will be well London, in 1957 by Ida Kar
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