ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES
ANJOLIE ELA MENON
Anjolie earned a degree in English from Delhi University and studied art in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts from 1961-62. She has had over thirty solos and several group shows. In addition to paintings in private and corporate collections, her works have been acquired by major museums in India and abroad. She is also well known for he murals and has represented India at the Algiers Biennale and in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Gallery ArtsIndia will be exhibiting a solo show of Anjolie's recent works in November of 2004.
MAQBOOL FIDA HUSAIN
Born 1915, Pandharpur, Maharashtra, India
Lives and works between Dubai and London.
Biography
M. F. Husain is the most recognised figure of modern and contemporary Indian art; he joined the Progressives Artists Group in 1948. A self-taught artist, Husain moved to Mumbai at an early age and began his artistic career by painting the billboards for cinemas. He recalls, "We were paid barely four or six annas per square foot. That is, for a 6x10 feet canvas, we earned a few rupees. And apart from the New Theatre distributor, the others did not pay us at all. As soon as I earned a little bit I used to take off for Surat, Baroda and Ahmedabad to paint landscapes".
His first exhibition took place in 1947 with his painting Sunhera Sansaar, shown at the annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society and Husain decided to stay in India during the Partition in 1947. Between 1948 – 1950, Husain's work caught the public eye in a series of exhibitions across India and through the fifties and sixties, he traveled outside India, with his first foray into China in 1951. The following year he had his first solo exhibition in Zurich and so began a series of exhibitions across Europe and the United States. In 1966, the Government of India awarded him the Padmashree.
Over the following decades, Husain's fame spread and was glorified by what was deemed to be a rather controversial approach to his art. His Shwetambari exhibition at the Jehangir Art Gallery consisted of two halls shrouded in white cloth, whorls of which also shared the floor with torn newspapers. Later, he gave a public performance at the Tata Center in Calcutta. For several days a crowd watched as he painted pictures of six goddesses. On the last day of the exhibition he destroyed his paintings by overpainting them in white. Several of his paintings in the nineties were named after the film actress Madhuri Dixit, perhaps displaying a childhood obsession that goes back to the time of painting billboards. As reported in the Times of India, "the Padma Vibhushan awardee continues to paint events that are topmost on contemporary minds, be it the solar eclipse, the cricket mania or the victory at Kargil".
Themes in Husain's work have repeatedly returned to his cultural roots, but he has embraced diverse influences, be that the cinematography of Buñuel to themes that have blended folk, tribal and mythological figures to create vibrantly contemporary, living art forms in his work. Icons of Indian culture through the ages seek to capture the quintessence of his subjects, like Mother Teresa, Krishna and the goddess Saraswati. Besides painting, he has also made feature films, including "Through the Eyes of a Painter" in 1966, which won the Golden Bear Award winner at the Berlin Film Festival (1967), and "Gaja Gamini" in 2000. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan awards, both prestigious civilian awards.
Select Solo and Group Exhibitions
2008 Winter Moderns, an exhibit of five senior modern Indian artists - M.F. Husain,
F.N. Souza, Shyamal Dutta Ray Satish Gujral and B. Prabha, Aicon Gallery,
New York
2008 Winter Moderns, exhibit of senior Indian modern masters, Aicon gallery,
London
2007 From the Vault, Aicon Gallery, London and New York
Epic India: Paintings by M F Husain, Peabody Essex Museum, Massachusetts, USA
2006 M F Husain: Early Masterpieces 1950s-70s, Asia House, London, UK
The Moderns Revisited, Grosvenor Vadehra, London, UK
2005 Ashta Nayak: Eight Pioneers of Indian Art, Gallery ArtsIndia, New York
2000 New Works, The Fine Art Resource, Berlin
1995 Inaugural Exhibition; River of Art, Art Today, New Delhi
1991 National Exposition of Contemporary Art, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai
1988 Takoka Municipal Museum of Art & Meugro Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
1987 Coups de Coeur, Halles de I'lle, Geneva, Switzerland
1986 Indian Art Today, The Philips Collection, Washington D.C.
Contemporary Indian Art, Grey Art Gallery, New York.
1986 Sista's Art Gallery, Kala Yatra, Bangalore
1985 100 Jahre Indische Malerei, Altes Museum, Berlin
1982 Modern Indian Painting, Hirshhorn Museum, Washington,DC.
Contemporary Indian Art, Festival of India, Royal Academy of Art, London
India: Myth and Reality: Aspect of Contemporary Indian Art, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, UK
Six Indian Painters, Tate Gallery, London
Indische Kunst Heute, Kunsthalle Darmstadt
1973 Retrospective Exhibition, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta
1971 São Paulo Biennale, Brazil
1970 Art Today -II, Asoka Art Gallery, Calcutta
1969 21 Years of Painting , Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
1966 Art Now in India, Newcastle, England and Ghent, Belgium
Commonwealth Art Exhibition, London
Oberoi International Hotel, New Delhi
1965 Exhibitions in Baghdad and Kabul
1960 Tokyo Biennale, Japan
Frankfurter Kunstkabinett, organized by Hanna Bekker vom Rath
Exhibition in Rome
1959 São Paulo Biennale, Brazil. Also 1971 as special invitee together with Pablo Picasso
1958 Eight Painters, International Culture Centre, New Delhi
1956 Zurich and Prague
1955 National Exhibition, Rabindra Bhavan, Lalit Kala Akademi
Venice Biennale, Italy
1953 Indische Kunst, Rautenstrauch- Joest –Museum, Cologne
Venice Biennale, Italy
1952 Zurich
1951 Salon de Mai, Paris
1950 Bombay Art Society's Salon, Bombay
1948–56 Group Exhibitions with PAG (Progressive Artists Group)
Films
2004 Meenaxi: Tale of 3 Cities (Director and Writer)
2000 Gaja Gamini (Director, Writer, Actor)
Fiza (Thanks, as M F Husain)
1997 Mohabbat (Actor, as Himself)
1991 Henna (Art Department/Paintings: a tribute to Raj Kapoor, depicting "Henna" in line and color)
1966 Through the Eyes of a Painter (Director and Writer)
Awards
2004 Lalit Kala Ratna, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1967 Awarded the Golden Berlin Bear for short film 'Through the Eyes of a Painter' (produced 1966),
Berlin International Film Festival, Germany
1966 Awarded Padma Shree and Padma Bhushan, Govt. of India.
Husain has received Honorary Doctorates from the following:
Benaras Hindu University
Jamia Millia Islamia
Mysore University
FRANCIS NEWTON SOUZA (1924 – 2002)
Born 1924, Saligaon, Goa, India.
Died 2002, Bombay, India.
Diploma in Painting, Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai (1940-45)
Italian Government Scholarship, study tour of Italy (1960)
Francis Newton Souza was born in India in 1924 and is of Goan Christian origin. As one of the co-founders of the Progressive Artists' Group in 1947, along with M.F. Husain, Raza, Ara and others, Souza led the edge of the Indian modernist art movement. He is widely recognised as a leading modernist and was the only Indian artist to be included in Tate Modern's group exhibition on 20th Century Modernism in 2002.
An iconoclast known for his powerful imagery, F. N. Souza unrestrained and graphic style created much controversy in his life and work. His repertoire of subjects covers still life, landscape, nudes and icons of Christianity, rendered boldly in a frenzied distortion of form. Souza's paintings express defiance and impatience with convention and the banality of everyday life.
Souza's works have reflected the influence of various schools of art: the folk art of his native Goa, the full-blooded paintings of the Renaissance, the religious fervor of the Catholic Church, the landscapes of 18th and 19th century Europe and the path-breaking work of the cubists. A recurrent theme in his work is the sexual tensions and friction within the male and female relationship and their ensuing conflicts. In drawings, Souza uses line with economy but captures fine detail in his forms; or uses a profusion of crosshatched strokes that make up the overall structure of his subject.
In 1942, Souza was expelled from the J.J. School of Art for partaking in the 'Quit India' movement. He left for London in 1949, making his mark on the European art scene and rose to fame with his 1955 one-man show at Gallery One, London – the same year his autobiographical essay 'Nirvana of a Maggot' was published. Souza exhibited internationally during his lifetime, solo and group shows include the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (1954); Venice Biennale (1954); Guggenheim Museum, USA (1958); Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (1958); Tate Gallery (1968); Museum of Modern Art, Sao Paulo/Rio de Janeiro (1961); Guggenheim Foundation, USA (1967); Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, UK (1982); Royal Academy of Art, London (1982); Hirschhorn Museum, Washington D.C (1982); Retrospectives include India House, London (1951, organised by Mr. V.K. Krishna Menon, then High Commissioner), and two organised by Art Heritage Gallery, Delhi (1986, 1996).
Select Solo and Group Exhibitions – Posthumous
2008 Summer collection, works by modern and contemporary south Asian artists,
Aicon Gallery, London
2008 Winter Moderns, an exhibit of five senior modern Indian artists - M.F. Husain,
F.N. Souza, Shyamal Dutta Ray, Satish Gujral and B. Prabha, Aicon Gallery,
New York
2008 'The Ghost of Souza', an exhibit of works by acclaimed artist Francis Newton
Souza, together with Indian and Pakistani artists influenced by Souza's work at
Aicon Gallery, New York
2007 From the Vault, Aicon Gallery, London and New York
Bacon, Freud, Mehta, Souza, Grosvenor Vadehra, New Delhi
2005-6 F. N. Souza, Religion & Erotica: Tate Britain, London
Self-Portrait, Renaissance to contemporary: National Portrait Gallery, London
2005 Francis Newton Souza, Saffronart and Grosvenor Gallery, London/New York
Ashta Nayak: Eight Pioneers of Indian Art, Gallery ArtsIndia, New York
Modern Indian Paintings, Grosvenor Gallery, London
A Tribute to F. N. SOUZA, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi /Manifestations III, Nehru Centre, Mumbai;
Rabindra Bhavan, New Delhi, and Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2004 Manifestations II, Jehangir Gallery and the Delhi Art Gallery
Ethos: Contemporary Indian Art, Indigo Blue Art, Singapore
Souza in London, curated by Yashodhara Dalmia from the Bhayana family collection, British
Council, New Delhi
2003 Modern Indian Painting, Grosvenor Gallery London
Francis Newton Souza: Works on paper, Saffronart, Mumbai
F.N Souza: A Definitive Retrospective, Gallery Artsindia, New York
Manifestations, Delhi Art Gallery
2002 Souza and Friends, Grosvenor Gallery, London,.
Souza in Bombay and Goa, Art Musings Gallery, Mumbai
2001 Souza: A Modern Myth, Gallery 88, Calcutta
Select Solo Exhibitions
1999 Copeland Fine Art Gallery, Columbus, Ohio, USA
1998 Bose Pacia Modern, New York
1997 Souza: A Retrospective, Julian Hartnolls Gallery, London
1996 Art Heritage, NEw Delhi
' Souza from the Alkazi Collection', Academy of Fine Arts and Literature New Delhi
The Acrylics of Souza, L.T.G. Art Gallery, New Delhi
1995 The Chemicals of Souza, L. T.G. Art Gallery, New Delhi
1993 Souza, 1940s-1990s Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi
1983 Souza in the Forties, Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi
1985 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai
1976 Dhoomimal Art Gallery,New Delhi
1975 76 Arts 38, London.
1968 London Arts Gallery Detroit, USA.
1966 Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi
1966 Grosvenor Gallery, London
1963 Taj Gallery Mumbai.
1962 Kumar Gallery, New Delhi.
1961 Gallery One, London
62 North Audley Street London.
1960 Gallery One, London
1959 Gallery One, London
1957 Gallery One, London
1955 Gallery One, London.
1954 Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
Gallery Creuze,London
1951 Indian Embassy, London
Select Group Exhibitions
2001 Souza & Baiju, Saffronart and Apparao Galleries, Mumbai
1996 National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai
1987 Coups de Coeur, Halles de L'Ile, Geneva
1986 Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi
1985 East-West Visual Arts Encounter, Bombay
1982 Modern Indian Paintings, Hirschorn Museum & Sculpture Garden Washington D.C.
India: Myth and Reality, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, UK
Contemporary Indian Art, Royal Academy, London
1977 Commonwealth Artists of Fame, London
1972 Minneapolis International Art Festival, USA
1968 Tate Gallery, London
1967 Guggenheim Foundation USA
1965 Art Now in India, Arts Council of Great Britain, London
1964 Grosvenor Gallery, 1964
1962 Commonwealth Institute, London
1961 Museum of Modern Art, Sao Paulo/Rio de Janeiro
1958 Guggenheim Museum, USA
Whitechapel Art Gallery, London
1957 John Moore's Exhibition, Walker Art Gallery Liverpool
1956,57,59,60 Gallery One, London
1954 Venice Biennale Italy
Institute of Contemporary Arts, London
1949 Bombay Art Society Salon, Mumbai
1948 Progressive Artists' Group, inaugural exhibition
Awards
1960 Italian Government Scholarship (through the British Council)
1967 Guggenheim International Award, New York
1957 John Moores Prize, Liverpool
Public Collections
National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi
Baroda Museum, Baroda
National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai
CIMA – Centre International Modern Art, Calcutta
Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
Tate, London, UK
Glenbarra Museum, Himeji, Japan
K LAXMA GOUD
Born 1940, Andhra Pradesh, India
Diploma, Government College of Art and Architecture, Hyderabad (1963)
Studied Mural Painting and Printmaking at M.S. University, Baroda (1963-65)
Lives and works in Hyderabad
Biography
Laxma Goud is recognized for his graceful, yet powerful line drawings, etchings and watercolors. The artist was born in Nizampur, Andhra Pradesh in 1940 and earned a diploma in drawing and painting from the Government College of Art and Architecture, Hyderabad, in 1963. He then studied mural painting and printmaking at M.S. University, Baroda. By the late 1960s, Goud had developed a distinct style with finely chiseled, yet pliant lines and delicate washes of color that he used to depict man's interaction with nature.
According to Goud, 'there is eroticism in nature itself." Humor, earthiness and vitality emerge as Goud transforms the characters of his works - man into goat, goat into woman, and man and woman peer lustfully at each other. Goud also explores man's connection to his environment. From men, women, goats, huts to vegetation, Laxma's simple images reflect an idyllic reality that is slowly being threatened by urbanisation. The works recreate the rural landscape as if it is frozen in time. The color, innocence, simplicity, flora and fauna are indicative of the bucolic naivety.
Apart from Goud's great narrative ability, the artist's remarkable skill and sophistication in handling his medium (pencil or brush) are evident. A master draughtsman, Goud is a versatile printmaker and painter and has worked in a variety of mediums: etching, gouache, pastel and grass paintings. Incisiveness, hatched lines and a keen eye for detail have been his trademark forte. He was a favored artist by the Herwitzes and was the most represented artist in their collection.
Select Solo Exhibitions
2009 Laxma Goud: Solo Exhibition, Aicon Gallery, London
2007 Laxma Goud 40 years: A Retrospective, Aicon Gallery, New York
2006 Sculptures, Bronze and Terra-cottas, Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai
2003 Aicon Gallery, New York
2001-02 Grey Art Gallery, New York
Select Group Exhibitions
2008 Summer collection, works by modern and contemporary south Asian artists,
Aicon Gallery, London
2007 From the Vault, Aicon Gallery, London and New York
2006 Back to the Future, Gallery Espace, New Delhi
1986 Indian Art Tomorrow, Philips Collection, Washington D.C.
1977 São Paulo Biennale, Brazil
SADEQUAIN (1930 – 1987)
Born 1930, Amroha, India
B.A. in Art History, Agra University (1948)
Sadequain Naqqash was one of the first Pakistani artists to gain international recognition, embarking on his notable career with an award from the Biennale de Paris in 1961. The artist was born in Amroha,
India, descending from a family of Qu'ran scribes and is recognised as the foremost calligrapher and painter of Pakistan, responsible for the renaissance of Islamic calligraphy in the country since the late 1960s and bringing the artform into the mainstream. In the late 1940s, Sadequain joined the Progressive Writers and Artists Movement and through his career, produced works of thematic content reflected by his commitment to social justice, and the progressive ideals of his peers of writers and poets. On the eve of Partition, Sadequain painted anti-British, nationalistic slogans in Dehli and such
politically-charged works gained the artist a wider, responsive audience both abroad and in Pakistan among the 1960s intelligentsia.
Sadequain's unique visual vocabulary stemmed from the complex merging of Eastern (calligraphy) and Western (figurative) traditions in art, alongside Hindu and Muslim ideology. Sweeps of a calligraphic brush are echoed in the artist's flamboyant approach to painting figures but his forms and themes are also partly biographical. Contortions to figurative style arose from his observation of wild, defiant cacti growing against the odds in the deserts of Gadani (Karachi) which left an indelible impression on the artist and his work. Colours used are simplistic, untempered by nuance or subtlety, but are given strong structures through Sadequain's contrast of etched strokes.
In terms of Sadequain's work in calligraphy, outside of Quranic verses, the artist's affinity to literature resulted in works illustrating the classical poetry of Iqbal, Ghalib and Faiz. With the support of state
patronage, Sadequain completed many celebrated commissions, notably the ceiling of Lahore Museum and the ambitious mural "The Treasures of Time" for the State Bank of Pakistan, depicting the evolution of mankind and tracing the history of great intellectuals. Other commissions include
The Power House at the Mangla Dam, Geological Institute of India, Banaras Hindu University and Aligarh Muslim University. In 2003, a retrospective entitled "The Holy Sinner: Sadequain" was exhibited at the Mohatta Palace Museum, Karachi.
Sadequain died on February 10, 1987 in Karachi at the age of 57.
Select Solo Exhibitions
1981 International Trade Fair, New Delhi
Indian Council for Cultural Relations at State Lalit Kala Academy, Rabindra Bhawan, New Delhi
1970 Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi
Liaquat Memorial Hall, Rawalpindi
1966 Retrospective Exhibition of 300 paintings at the Banking Hall of the State Bank Headquarters,
Karachi
1962 Galerie Lambert, Paris
1954-60 Held numerous one-man exhibitions at Quetta Residency, and in Karachi at Prime Minister H.
S. Suhrawardy's residence, Frare Hall, executed murals in Jinnah Central Hospital, Karachi
Airport, Services Club, and Mangla Dam Committee Room
Select Group Exhibitions
1982 Kennedy Hall, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Urdu Ghar, Hyderabad
Lalit Kala Academy, Lucknow, India
Ghalib Academy, New Delhi
1969 Arts Council Building, Karachi
1965 Several exhibitions in France including Nouran Havre, Palais de la Mediterranean, Chateau-
Musee Annecy, Musee Casino Dieppe, Casino de Charbonnieres, and Musee Macon
Arts Council Gallery, Karachi; Alhamra, Lahore
1964 Galerie Presboug, Paris
1963 Commonwealth Institute Galleries, London
N.V.C. Gallery, London
5th Salon of the "Young and Great Artists," Museum of Modern Art, Paris
Awards
1982 International Gold Mercury Award
1962 Awarded president's medal for Pride of Performance
1960 Awarded Tamgha-e-Imtiaz and First Prize in the All Pakistan National Exhibition of Paintings
Awarded Laureate Biennale de Paris by the International Jury of Critics