A Grand Tribute: Centenary Retrospective of Artiste Dhanraj Bhagat
By Jagpreet Luthra
Does curation enhance the work of an artist? The answer is in the affirmative when one sees the Dhanraj Bhagat centenary exhibition that comes to a close on Wednesday at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi.
Director General of NGMA Adwaita Charan Garanayak pays a grand tribute to the versatile and tireless artiste in the way he has curated Bhagat's work that included sculptures, sketches and paintings. Small pencil and ink drawings on paper, that seem to be a leaf out of a child's art book, have been mounted on tall ladders that serve as a gateway to the ten rooms and corridors where the work is on display. A recreation of Bhagat’s studio at his South Extension home breathes life into the centenary retrospective of the artiste who bid adieu to the world in 1988, at the age of 71.
Bhagat’s human figures--of dhoti-clad workmen, gossiping women, burdened mothers and men and women in sensual poses--are towering; those of gods, lean and minimalist. The black plaster of paris sculpture of Shiva in the cosmic dance, considered by some critics to be among Bhagat's defining works, is the leanest sculpture and yet throbbing with energy.
Wood sculpture by Bhagat titled ‘Gossip’ on display
The sculptor experimented with different textures in his sculptures, including iron, steel, reinforced concrete and plaster of paris but wood seems to have been his favourite medium. Bhagat was born in Lahore in 1917 and apprenticed with a commercial sculptor to earn his college fees. He went to the best, the Mayo College of Art, later renamed as the National College of Art. The Chandigarh’s Art college is an offshoot and has a park dedicated to Bhagat.
Bhagat's initial sketches, of men and women in erotic poses, resemble the walls of Khajuraho. Sensuality gave way to spirituality as the artiste in him evolved, but the lines and colours remained consistent throughout the work that panned half a century. Bhagat's pencil and ink drawings of Krishna, the gopis and Shiva are delightful.
During his last years, Bhagat was confined to a wheelchair because of a stroke but his passion for art remained. Birds were a prominent subject in his early sculptures and sketches, and remained so till the end, lending a fascinatingly innocent quality to a body of work that has been hailed for its tireless and inventive attributes.