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A befitting tribute to a prolific artist

MASTER STROKE: A painting by Dhiraj Choudhury.

A six-day retrospective show of over 70 works by well-known artist Dhiraj Choudhury is now on at Gallery I-IV of Lalit Kala Akademi here.

Spanning Choudhury's 50 years of works from 1955 to 2005, the retrospective is a befitting tribute to this prolific artist's contribution to the Indian art scene. It showcases drawings, paintings and sculptures. The works exhibit images of men and women, in cityscapes or rural and natural surroundings, often in the company of birds and animals. There are also images of the common man engrossed in his daily routine or those that reflect a human desire for love and belonging.

There is free play of nature, its beauty and bounty that are an important source of inspiration for many of his paintings and drawings. There are images showcasing the landscapes of Darjeeling and Kolkata, besides the beauty of German, British and French countryside and the Mediterranean coastline. There are sketches and paintings of important heritage and other sites, structures and scenes such as the college in Darjeeling where he studied art, the European landscape that he experienced as an artist in residence and the musician from Rajasthan whom he stumbled upon during one of his sojourns there.

Artist, teacher, facilitator, writer and social crusader, Choudhury is all rolled into one. A firm believer that art and artists must play a communicative and social role, he works with young art students, children and various non-government organisations including the young artists' club "Line" that he had set up.

The artist's accomplishments encompass over a hundred solo shows and many group exhibitions besides workshops and other visual projects and creative writing. His skill as a water colourist is manifested in his early work.

The artist and the social crusader in him often co-exist happily and one can see this in the central focus for much of his large body of work over the years.

Choudhury's talent was recognised as early as 1962 when his paintings were exhibited at Rabindra Bhavan Gallery's inaugural exhibition when he was just 26 years of age. Organised by Art Konsult, the exhibition is on up to April 21.

-- Madhur Tankha

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