Page 132 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

SCULPTURE 129

is noticeable in the work of many painters. This is the first instance in Indian sculpture
that the modeling is so spontaneous, lively in immediate dramatic motion and
emotionally expressive. When Winter Comes done in 1940 also expresses mental and
physical distress. In some works done during this period he has expressed the social
and economical distress after the war and during the famine. The Triumph of Labor
(fig. 2.38) is a life-size sculpture by Debiprasad. The composition is dramatic. He was
shown six figures from different views at the final moment of lifting a great rock. The
movement of the figures and anatomy are very well blended in this piece. This famous
sculpture of Debiprasad is preserved on the seashore of Chennai and the Delhi
National Gallery. His work expresses the sorrows and poverty of the common people.
Debiprasad also tried to compose sculpture on the ideals of the Bengal School of
Abanindranath. Rudra Siva, Woman after Bath are influenced by the ideals of Indian
tradition (fig. 2.39). However, his style is naturalistic and he could not free himself
from the academic trend. Debiprasad’s great contribution is inspiring his students
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Prodosh Dasgupta, Dhanpal and Janakiram to work in the new trends of modernism
in the 40s. We can say that Debiprasad is the forerunner of modernism in Bengal
sculpture. fig. 2.39 Debiprasad
The generation of Indian artists before Debiprasad had mastered the European academic Roychowdhury, Woman
style. However, modernism in the true sense was introduced to sculpture through after Bath
Ramkinkar Baij in Kala Bhavana of Santiniketan. Many Indians had worked with Indian
subject matter before but these did not express the essence or aesthetics of Indian art. He
crossed over many conventions, techniques and fixed regulations and expressed his own
self in sculpture, was conscious of the characteristics of the medium and expressed the
aesthetics of Indian art. Along with all of this he combined his clear concepts of the
sculpture of the modern world with its new thoughts, ideals and forms.
Perhaps it is contextual to discuss in short the characteristics of the modern sculpture
which were evinced in place of earlier Indian sculpture. A great change is seen in the
representation of women. In both the folk and classical traditions of Indian art we see
the sexual energy and attributes extremely spontaneously depicted in both male and
female forms. There is no great difference between the formal or representational
depiction of males and females. Religious sculptures were governed by regulations laid
down by iconography. They were executed in special movements and gestures. Indian
sculpture inspired by the mystery of the fertile energy of nature did not differentiate in
the artistic form of presentation between the male and the female. The nudity of male
and female are imbued by the essence of nature and creation. Natural in their own
existence and in the limitless opposing forces of nature, Indian sculptures transcend the
boundaries of the sensual world. The rhythm of life animates both male and female
forms with harmony; the energy of life imparts fullness to the forms with a centrifugal
force. Upon contact with western academic art Indian artists began to look for
sentiment in art, certain subjects appear and the nudity of the female form is objectified
for the viewer in the European manner. In western art the female form is arranged to