End of a magnificent innings
|
Chintamani Kar (1915-2005) was not only a great painter and sculptor but an influential thinker too.
|
The passing of Chintamani Kar (1915-2005) recently in Kolkata turned out to be a silent exit of a stalwart on the country's art scene, with the major dailies virtually skipping the news. Surely his has been a colourful life during the formative years as also later, in India and abroad. On return he joined the Government School of Art in the eastern metropolis (later upgraded to college level), as its Principal. A competent teacher and administrator, he succeeded in leaving his mark by way of thoughts and deeds - indeed an example of thorough involvement with art.
His choice of art as a vocation after the school stage as against the father's idea of the son's going for medicine saw the young man leaving home, a difference that luckily could be resolved in he end. The young art aspirant received training in the Society of Oriental Art in Calcutta founded by Abanindranath Tagore, where Kshitindranath Majumdar, known for his Sri Chaitanya paintings, happened to be his teacher.
He made a name for himself as a painter. Yet his one-time fascination for three-dimensional work after watching Giridhari Mahapatra, a traditional woodcarver from Orissa, prompted him to go for modelling and sculpting lessons too and leave for Paris and later for London.
Attraction for sculpture
Right from terracotta to stone and metal, his pieces soon began attracting the attention of connoisseurs, which came to be reflected in his being elected a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors (the first Asian to be so honoured). He continued to do commission work even after returning to India. His Rani Rasmoni (Calcutta), Blind Justice (showing a woman's face covered with a black scarf, installed at the Supreme Court, Delhi) - both sculptures - and a fairly big oil painting of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose (on the wall of the Central Hall in the Parliament, Delhi) deserve particular mention.
Over the past two decades or so, he virtually led a solitary life, as his wife Amina (nee Ahmed), herself an accomplished painter, and only son Digvijay predeceased him. Not a recluse for that matter, since he kept himself engaged, regularly browsing through books, attending to correspondence and preparing the articles and lectures he was asked to contribute. Busy or not, he ever had a smile of welcome on his face, for friends and old acquaintances. Gifted with a fine power of observation and winning friends, he would leave aside brush and chisel for a while and wield the pen, resulting in a book like "Smritichinhita" (Etched in Memory), hailed for a distinct literary flavour. He also wrote valuable manuals, like one on bronze casting.
Due to the very same sensibilities and discerning eye, he proved himself an avid art collector, objects coming as gifts, through exchanges and of course by way of purchases. His collection of varied artworks is housed in Bhaskar Bhavan in Narendrapur, in the city suburb.
AJIT KUMAR DUTTA
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
