…. Curator’s Pen by Prabuddha Ghosh

Rabindranath Tagore believed that the aim of education is self-realization. He himself was a poet and a saint, who had, through his imagination and insight, realized the universal soul in himself and in nature. He believed that this realization was the goal of education. Because the universal soul is the root of our own soul, man s aim in life is to reach that universal soul of which all human beings are parts. The evolution of nature is consciously or unconsciously driving u s towards this universal soul, a process that can be assisted by education. Even if it is not assisted, the progress towards the universal soul will continue, but then individuals will be deprived of self realization. It is thus evident that Rabindranath Tagore's educational philosophy is an adjunct of his general philosophy of life. He believed that every human being is one who has potentialities of progressing towards the Super human being, the universal soul. His conception of the universal soul b...

A student of the Government College of   Art   & Craft   in Calcutta, Sunil Das would later also study at Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, and with William Hayter and Krishna Reddy at Atelier-17,   also in Paris. Known for his iconic drawings of bulls and horses, Sunil Das painted across several oeuvres, each one distinctive and to which he brought his singular vision. F. N. Souza once said about Sunil Das: ‘His paintings are often about death and horror… [He is] a master of the horrific in art.’ Sunil Das’s images of the bulls were inspired by his observations during a trip to Spain. And the horses were from, if not at Calcutta’s racecourse, then at the stable of Calcutta’s Mounted Police, where the artist spent his time observing and sketching them. One of India's important post-modernist painters,   Das rose to prominence with his drawing of horses. "I must have done 7000 horses between 1950 to 60," he says. "In 1962, I ...

Some call it ‘abstract expressionism’; others insist it’s just a visual interplay of cosmic symbols. ‘Neo-Tantra’ or what started as an artists’ movement (of sorts) in the ’60s, might have lost many of its masters, but still survives in its innumerable interpretations. Tantra originated from the union of Shiva and Shakti, an intense practice of rituals and customs. While I don’t practice that, as an artist it still remains a socially relevant form of self expression. It delve s into the source and the core of existence,” this is the statement of artist who work with the mandalas (geometric patterns), pure colours and cosmic geometry. Tantra is a body of beliefs and practices that enables individuals to conjoin with something much larger than themselves—nothing short of cosmic forces. Tools (in the broadest sense) that facilitate transcendence are omnipresent for those who are attuned: rituals, drawings, maps, sculptures, and chants, to name just a few. A religious...

Kshitindra Nath Majumdar (31st July 1891 – 9th February 1975), born in village Jagtai near Nimtita in Jangipur sub-division was a painter of a very high calibre. He was a student of Abanindranath Tagore. His paintings were mainly based on the theme of Devotions and stories from the Puranas. Kshitindranath Majumdar was an influential figure of the Bengal School of Art which flourished between 1905 and 1920. He restricted himself to Vaishnavite (referring to the Hindu god Vishnu) and literary themes, evolving a mannered style in which languid, elongated figures generally appear against simple backgrounds with trees and shrubs. In this scene influences from the paintings at Ajanta and Far Eastern techniques are evident. Kshitindranath Majumdar was a stalwart of the Bengal School. A student of Abanindranath Tagore and a contemporary of other luminaries such as Nandalal Bose and Asit Kumar Haldar, Kshitindranath’s work embodied his lifelong commitment to the original esthetics of t...