Befittingly, the ‘Purvaee’ exhibit at the KNMA represents the significant influence of the East, both from within India’s borders and outside, on the modern art movement. Documenting the first generations of teachers in the two pioneering art institutions and their protégés, the exhibition examines the provocations, institutional and otherwise, that led to the production of seminal work by 14 artists that are part of the modern Indian art canon.    

The Kala Bhavana (Estd.1919) in Santiniketan and the Faculty of Fine Arts  (Estd. 1950) in Baroda are synonymous with Indian art and movements that would give rise to distinct artistic movements. Artist-pedagogue Nandalal Bose (1882- 1966), influenced by the freedom struggle and Gandhian principles, believed in an intimate artist-viewer relationship, that focussed on sensitivity in his art. Under Abindranath Tagore’s tutelage at Shantiniketan, he carried forward and imparted a stylistic lineage that amalgamated inferences from Ajanta murals, Indian miniatures, to Far-Eastern linear intonations in ink washes. His protégés, Benode Behari Mukherjee (1904- 1980) and Ramkinkar Baij (1906- 1980) furthered his legacy of empathetic observation to enliven art. 

Across the 200 works on display at the exhibition, the East Asian influence from the rich artistic traditions of China and Japan is palpable. The artists are woven together in their practices owing to their mentorship at the two prominent art schools under Bose, Mukherjee and Baij. Receiving the Padma Vibhushan, Rockefeller Fund Fellowship, jury member of the Baghdad International Film Festival, Fulbright Fellowship, Faiz International Festival, and featuring in permanent exhibits in museums like the London Metropolitan Museum of Art are but a small bouquet of honours and accolades in the illustrious careers of the artists. The exhibition investigates associations between individual practices, inter-generational creative dialogues, and institutional peculiarities between the artists and their mentors.