Vijay Kowshik writes
In the eight decades of its existence, the Art School at Shantiniketan’s Visva Bharati University has been synonymous with giants of Indian modern art. Founded by Rabindranath Tagore, and nurtured by the artistic greats - Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose and Binodebihari Mukherji - the Art School became the University’s most notable department.
K.G. Subramanyan, Somenath Hore and Dinkar Kowshik all live there, their canvasses still flowing with creative energies.
The Visva Bharati University at Shantiniketan [Abode of Peace] was founded by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921 - as a spiritual and intellectual haven - a catalyst for the synthesis of Asian and western thought, “… a conduit between Asia’s past and present, so that the ancient learning might be rejuvenated through contact with modern thinking.”
The origins and association with Shantiniketan go back over a hundred years. It was in 1863 that Rabindranath’s father Debendranath Tagore, on one of his journeys, stopped at Shantiniketan [near Bolpur], about a hundred miles north-west of Calcutta, to meditate under one of the few trees that existed there at the time. The area was desolate, barren, and denuded. Debendranath was charmed by the solitude and the aloofness of the place and bought it - as a retreat for his family. Over the years, soil and plants were transported and thus began the greening of Shantiniketan. In 1901, Rabindranath, at the age of forty, decided to make Shantiniketan his home and at first founded a school there, and twenty years later - a University - The Visva Bharati University.
The idea of Visva Bharati University at Shantiniketan was far ahead of its time. “I have it in mind to make Shantiniketan the connecting thread between India and the world…The days of petty nationalism are numbered - let the first step towards universal union occur in the fields of Bolpur. I want to make that place somewhere beyond the limits of nature and geography” - Rabindranath had articulated. At the time it began functioning in 1921, it was dismissed by some as an idealist’s dream. Rabindranath, nevertheless, pursued and set up three departments - Art, Music and Indology - which attracted indigenous talent and Orientalists from Europe and the Far East. From the time he won the Nobel Prize in 1913 until his death in 1941, many distinguished scholars, artists, and writers from the world over visited Rabindranath at Shantiniketan. Ramsay MacDonald, Kakuzo Okakura, Wilmot Perera, Moritz Winternitz, Sylvain Levi were some of the visitors to Shantiniketan.
Nandalal Bose who had studied under Abanindranath Tagore, founder of the Bengal School of Art, first headed the Art School, or ‘Kala Bhavan’, as it is known. [Abanindranath was the son of Rabindranath’s older brother].
Abanindranath was instrumental in the start of the contemporary art movement in India. The political environment in India, in the early decades of the twentieth century, was charged with a nationalist spirit. The question of the time was whether to revive old art forms of the glorious past or to adopt the western techniques with the sparkle of the modern European mind, and the spectacular achievements of the west. Abanindranath was the one person who could overcome this dilemma and firmly develop his personal style. He confidently discarded the revivalist ideal but absorbed the implications of the Indian art traditions. In his personal style he easily assimilated the techniques acquired from his British and Italian teachers and he also set up an art school. One of his most gifted pupils was Nandalal Bose (1882 - 1966).
Rabindranath asked Nandalal Bose to build and head the art department at Shantiniketan in 1921. Nandalal believed in exploring the uniqueness of the Indian genius as revealed in the long tradition of Indian art. It was his firm conviction that an Indian artist must learn an authentic language, which is in harmony, and is compatible with his spirit, in order to respond to the emerging new era of art. The tension and warmth that saturated his works were a reflection of a conscious, creative personality engaged in the rigorous endeavor to evolve and project an image of Indian modernity. In a write-up on Nandalal, Rabindranath observed:
“Nandalal, I know, could not submit to … paralyzing effect of a personal manner in his progress to self-expression through art. I have long noticed a trait of self-rebellion in him. The creative power everywhere has need of this self revolt… Nandalal was urged by this continual restlessness of vitality in his creative work … His brush is ever directed to a journey beyond his own past achievement. That is truly the way to universality of creation, and endless is the road that lies ahead.”
Nandalal’s mental makeup was in complete resonance with Rabindranath’s attitude. Nandalal never adhered to any particular technique or medium and continually vented his creative urge in diverse forms. Nor did he influence upon any of his students or interfere with their personal development. He also believed that an artist could not be created. A teacher of art could only assist a student-artist’s self-development. This freedom and an absence of academic rigidity certainly contributed to the emergence of talent with distinct individuality.
Shantiniketan was evolving and the interactions with various personalities who visited the place were helping in the evolution. The interactions with the Japanese master Kakuzo Okakura were a major force in this evolution. The creativity at Kala Bhavan remained charged and strengthened with the arrival of talented and gifted teachers. In the mid 1920s, two great minds, Binodebihari Mukherjee and Ram Kinkar Baij joined the Art School.
Binodebihari (1904 - 1980) joined Shantiniketan as a student in 1917 and as faculty in 1925. Originally from Behala, a small town in Bengal, he was the most brilliant student of Nandalal and had a strong identity of his own. His style of teaching was to enhance and encourage the strengths of individual students, nurturing the development of their own vocabulary. He has created great works of art in the tempera medium, though his works in other medium are no less commendable. His analysis and overview of the principles of beauty in art is very important, straightforward and devoid of uncertainty and ambiguity. His works are highly sensitive, with an inner strength of character and sincerity. They have a sense of congruence to his feelings and experiencing them brings one close to the qualities of his self. Despite his partial visual handicap, Binodebihari rose to be acknowledged as one of India’s finest painters. Satyajit Ray, the renowned filmmaker, had studied under Binodebihari [1940-42], and in 1972 made a film about him - ‘The Inner Eye’.
Ramkinkar (1910 -1980) also joined as faculty in 1925. Coming from the small town of Bankura, Ramkinker was brought to Shantiniketan because of his genius and the spark in him. He also became one with the place. Ramkinkar had the grit to maintain his inherited identity while creating the essentials of the new environment. While a relentless effort was on to develop an Indian idiom that could relate to its traditional forms, Ramkinkar sought his own direction without bothering about past traditions, though having his roots intact. His was a very personal style, which had so much to offer to posterity. He studied life around him, introducing a bold and virile realism. His works (sculptures, paintings and graphics) are characteristic of strength of form, lines and virility of thought. They give a feeling of tremendous energy and exuberance and are strongly vital, reaching out for the light.
A fascinating aspect at Shantiniketan was the close relationship between the faculty and the students. Binode da and Kinker da, as they were lovingly addressed, were major moulders of the contemporary art scene in India. They have very major works to their credit, which have become the heritage treasures of the country. They were also instrumental in the subsequent development of their students. Among their students, Sankho Chaudhuri and K.G Subramanyan developed the Baroda school of art; Dinkar Kowshik and Jaya Appasamy developed the Delhi school of art. Jaya Appasamy, after studying art at Shantiniketan, studied at Peking and Oberlin college USA. She was the editor of the publications of Lalit Kala Akademi and also authored various books. She was known as a serious art critic. Krishna Reddy, who has a hand in the development of the Graphics Department at the New York University, was also a student at Shantiniketan during this time.
There was a period of stillness when Nandalal left Kala Bhavan. Nandalal, who was lovingly known as Master Moshai, was incapacitated during his final years; Binode da and Kinker da were disillusioned with the institution, which had been taken over by the Government a few years after Rabindranath passed away, though they kept up their intensity of work.
It was in 1967 that the quietude pervading the Kala Bhavan received a fresh and a positive stimulus. Dinkar Kowshik, who had been taught by Binodebihari and Kinker, took over as principal. He brought back into the curriculum the original philosophy on which the institution was created. This was the time when both Binode da and Kinker da came into their elements again - and he got some of the great minds in art to move to Shantiniketan. Somenath Hore, K.G Subramanyan, Sharbari Rai Choudhuri and others came to the institution to give it a new life and the original creative edge.
At the turn of the century, some of these Greats still reside and work in Shantiniketan. K.G Subramanyan (born 1924) is a painter experimenting continuously in various media. His works are sensitive, satirical, full of wit and have a strong individuality. He is an emeritus professor at Shantiniketan.
Dinkar Kowshik (born 1918), working with a deep intensity, is quiet and unassuming. His works are extremely sensitive and have a sense of character. The recent works convey feelings of joy, playfulness and calm. There was a period when his works conveyed severe tensions, though with an inner tranquility. With his conviction and grit he was able to bring Kala Bhavan out of its low period and the present group together. He is also a voracious writer and has a number of books to his credit.
Somenath Hore (born 1921) is an accomplished graphic artist turned sculptor. An extremely intense artist, his sculptures are moving and transmit his empathy to pain, poverty, hunger and grief - conveying a sense of shame and surprise towards the state of things.
Sitting in the ashram (Campus) of Kala Bhavan one can feel the creative energies flowing around and the deep and sincere interest of the students and teachers mingling in the interactions. Shantiniketan remains among the foremost institutions for creative art.