Art beyond canvas - why they painted what they painted

A poor young artist from a village of Bengal remained in close contact with Jamini Roy for almost two decades. His name was Basanta Jana. Jamini Roy kept most of his paintings. Both had almost identical style. But Basanta Jana's paintings almost vanished from record! What really happened?

Jamini Roy is one of the most famous artist even this day in Indian world of modern art. But did he paint anything new? Did he set a new movement in motion? What prompted him to paint in the folk style? Was it his deep concern for the neglected and dying art form of the Santhal Tribes or Kalighat Patuas or a pure quest for a winning strategy for the market?

Rabindranath Tagore began to paint at the age of 67. Long after he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Until then he did not paint beyond the doodles on his manuscripts. But when he painted, he demolished every rule and convention in place. His paintings opened a radically new horizon in Indian art. But there were mysterious elements in his color palette. This episode talks about the mystery behind the legend's artistic creations.

Gaganendranath Tagore, nephew of the legendary poet, Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, was a great artist. In some section of art lovers in India, he is taken for a cubist. But did he indulge in cubism? Why do we know him? Is it only because of his wonderful paintings and cartoons or there was some other aspect too?

Abanindranath Tagore, the nephew of the legendary poet Rabindranath Tagore, brought in a radical change in the style of art in the early twentieth century India. Even if in today's context, his paintings appear to be old fashioned and less appealing, his turning away from the western perspective driven art was a shocking creative rebellion at that time. This episode talks about the Bengal School of art that shaped the form of Indian Art for ever.

After the death of Raja Ravi Varma, entered the Bengal School. But Bengal School did not celebrate the art of the British. It fell back on the Mughal Art. Bengal school came up with an original art form of India. But what prompted the flag bearers of Bengal school to revolt against the colonial art forms? What made them the rebels of art? What made the legendary Tagore family the breeding ground of revolutionary world views?

One tight slap by Siraj Ud-Daulah changed the course of history in India and British colonialism began! The would-be-Nawab slapped the great Marwari Banker, Jagat Seth in a fit of anger and the revenge of the Banking community invited the East India Company to settke score.

From the status of struggling merchants, East India Company turned into a tenant of the Mughal land in India. Hardly a thousand rupees per year! And a secret intelligence report made some anonymous man at some faraway port landed at the table of the British officials. Even if innocent occurrences apparently, yet these two events transformed formed history of a sub-continent.

East India Company was just a bunch of merchants looking for a living by buying and selling goods like any private company opening an outlet round the corner. But how is it that such insignificant Englishmen ended up colonizing and entire sub continent? This episode is about history, not art history. But it is important to understand the fabric of British India before we dig into the anatomy of art during that period. In this episode, the values of currency mentioned are based on the current value of Pound.

Ravi Varma was a phenomenon who turned into a runaway success during his lifetime. Among a lot of company artists educated in the art colleges established by the British, Ravi Varma stood out in the crowd with his distinctive creations. He is a household name even this day. But why? What did he do differently? Moreover, does it make sense doing it today? If an artist paints like he did, will she be as famous as Ravi Varma became?

While there is a general perception among most Indians that the British stripped the country of its riches during its two hundred years of colonial rule, was there some priceless contributions too in their part that made Indians what they are in the following days?

Mughal art was the the product of patronage of the emperors. The style was peculiarly, neither Persian, not native Indian. Artists worked under strict guidelines of the Mughal School of painting evolved through hundreds of years. Did it allow creative freedom to the artists?

Indian paintings without Mughal influence had the spirit of contemporary art way ahead of the west. This episode explains the nuances of Pahari art in particular.

Tribal arts are traditions surviving more than a millennium. Tribes do not paint them for money. Why do they do it then? Is it art really? And in today's commercialized world, tribal arts appear on various merchandise too. Large corporate buyers enforce customization as per their brand image to be used as gift items. Is it corrupting the ethnic originality of the art forms?

The great mural tradition of India seen on the walls and roofs of caves and temples of Pallava, Chola and Pandya dynasty were painted under strict rules and guidelines. The patrons were the kings and royals. Their faith and belief and ego reflect on the ancient images. The question is, can we call them art?

Paintings at the Ajanta Caves have captured the world in awe since the day those were discovered. In this episode we are discussing about the unique aspects of Ajanta paintings that render them stand out as exception among all the paintings done in the world during the period between 200BC to 600CE.

Thanks to the Greek influence as well as Hindu idolatry, a radical transformation happens in Indian style of art. Frozen moments are born.

The first flash of great art, the Ashoka pillar was subjected to a great vanishing act. It resurfaced as what it is, after almost a thousand years! How and why?

The earliest testimony of true artistic creation in the Indian subcontinent was the emblem of an empire that vanished from history for two thousand years! This episode is about that emblem.

In this episode we discuss about various aspects of the challenges women encounter as artists. Why? We also try to explore the root causes.

History says that creative geniuses in the field of art and literature had been a bit crazy in their ways. At times, such element of madness caused acute suffering to such personalities themselves. In this episode we discussed with psychologists as well as authors about the need or utility of modern psychiatric consultations for such outliers of creativity. Will the treatments damage them or enable them live better?

This final episode of this season speaks about the tormenting yet thrilling life of Frida Kahlo and her twice married husband Diego Rivera.

It is the strange life of the Artistic genius Jackson Pollock who gave birth to Americal Absrtact expressionism but could not be saved from himself in the end!

Salvador Dali was a genius of rare order but cause of his fame was more from his outrageous publicity stunts. Listen to the story and be entertained!

Who were the DADA rebels? Why did they demolish the convention of the western world? Why they called themselves by the strange non-sensical word - DADA? And how did the DADA revolt led to surrealism? Did the Surrealism of Dali make any sense of it was mere visual illusion? How Freud was connected to the strange developments in art that changed the face of art for good?

This episode is about the pros and cons of abstract expression. How and why Wansley Kandinsky realized the magic of abstract expression? Moreover, how did he become famous despite painting in such inconceivable manner?

There had been artists as radical as Picasso or Matisse but people outside the art-circle hardly ever know about them. Why? What made them vanish from the pages of history. Perhaps pure bad luck...

Did the masters like Monet, Manet, Degas, Van Gogh make money out of their paintings? When we google their names, we find them described as famous artists. True. They became famous. But when? Their artworks turned worth multitude of millions of dollars. But did they earn even a living out their paintings?

Of course, Picasso became rich. Matisse became famous in their lifetime. What was the mystery of their quick success?

The most radical works that changed the course of art were done by artists who lived far from the mainstream of the impressionist movement. They pursued art in silence away from the fanfare. They never learned what was happening in the epicenter of the movement. But as in any field of creativity, in the realm of art too, outsiders play the gamechangers. It is peculiar, but it is the fact!

The impressionists wanted to paint truth on canvas. The real vision they encountered. Hard facts of life. No matter if ugly or bitter or ironic. The subjective version, not objective. But vision altered fast. And the impressionist-brush crisscrossed the canvas in blistering pace. Paints poured straight from the tubes. No time to mix paints. But how much truth can we face even if it is the time for face-off!

French revolution killed thousands of people but opened the door for the modern era of art. Without a doomsday, no new beginning is possible.

Industrial revolution brought gigantic machines and created rich business magnets. But it also released art from the bondage of church. It made art a public affair. Industrial revolution made artists like Turner and Constable. The ever misunderstood notion of Constable being an impressionist haunts emerging artists even this day. The strange conflict between what Turner might have wanted to depict and what the world perceived remains an irony until this day. This is the period of transition of classical art to modern.

Baroque period had a unique quality of being direct and compelling. The Christian world was under radical transformation due to Protestant reformation by Martin Luther and counter-reformation of the Catholic church. The church set a new guideline for art. But a few artists like Caravaggio or Rubens emerged who obeyed and disobeyed the dictate at the same time. How?

When perfection is achieved, there is nothing else to do but to stay there. This was the challenge set by Leonardo and Michelangelo during renaissance. The period, that followed, caused plenty of struggle for the artists to shatter the conventions and traditions. It is an episode about the few great artists who crashed the jail of style during the mannerist period.

The masters of Renaissance did magic in art. True. But what was the motivational force behind that magic spell? Perhaps it was money and power, not pure passion for creation.

When the Egyptians were building the pyramids and the Greeks were building architectural marvels, the Vedic mystics in the east were intoning hymns. Why? Was it mere lethargy or something deeper?  

Roman rulers lived in anxiety. They feared for their lives all the time. They fought endless battles with internal and external enemies. To top it all, entered Christianity with its denial for likeness in art. Despite these challenges, the most important discovery happened during Roman period that changed art for good. 

The flag bearers of art after the Egyptians were the Greeks. But who were Greeks anyway? Did they do any different from the Egyptians? And what was the revolutionary change in the history of art during the Greek period? The meaning of portrait was not what we know today. But what was it?

In this episode I am talking about the longest lasting civilization of Egypt. They made stone reliefs and statues in the cold underground chambers of the Pyramids. But was it a testimony of their creative urge or mundane need of earning a living? Can those qualify as art at all?

This episode is about a fleeting journey of art through fifteen millenniums. Even if the cavemen in the east and the west painted the same images of hunting during the ice-age, yet with the passage of time, artists from the two ends of the world parted ways diametrically, only to meet again in the 20th century! How and why?

Who painted that mustache on the face of the beautiful Mona Lisa, and why? It was a turning point in the journey of Art. But that is about a hundred years ago. This podcast explores the question about the driving force behind art. What propelled art's adventure through thousands of years, blind passion or a need for earning a living?

It is about the turning points in the history of art. The narrative aims to bring art closer to the heart and demystify the myth that art is too complex and abstract for non-artists. Mysterious and curious ways of the world of art are described in this series. The unusual and controversial lives of the legends have been analyzed to explain why they painted what they painted.