Ganesh Pyne
Ganesh Pyne is obsessed with death. He cannot forget his first brush with death, in the summer of 1946, when communal riots shook Calcutta. His family was forced to abandon their ruined mansion. While he was wandering around the city, he came across a pile of corpses. On top was the body of an old woman completely naked, with wounds on her chest. It is not surprising that his paintings rarely have light backgrounds and that blue and black are his favorite colors. Death also returns to his canvas for different reasons. Working primarily in tempera, his paintings are rich in imagery and symbolism.
Pyne was born in Calcutta and grew up in a dilapidated mansion. He also grew up with stories told by his grandmother, mythological stories, and fairy tales. He spent several nights in smoky cafes in Calcutta talking about communism and Picasso with his friends. My childhood memories revolve around Calcutta. The sounds and smells of this city fill my being. I love Calcutta.
He doesn't remember the first time he started painting, but he does remember the anger his decision to become an artist caused in his family. Pyne, however, entered the Government College of Arts and Crafts in Calcutta. My first painting was Winter Morning, which showed my brother and me going to school, he recalls. In 1963 he joined the Society of Contemporary Artists. During that period he made small pen and ink drawings. I didn't have enough money to buy color then, Pyne says. This was also the period of experimentation. The anger and despair of the '70s fueled one of the most fruitful periods of his life as an artist, culminating in works such as Before the Chariot and The Assassin.
However, at some point in the 1980s, he isolated himself from the world, driven away by the jealousy and pettiness that the art bazaar aroused among his friends.
Initially, Pyne painted watercolors and sketches of misty mornings and wayside temples, variously influenced by Walt Disney and the art of Abanindranath Tagore. He counts Hals Rembrandt and Paul Klee as other influences.
His characteristic style is shaped by his own experiences of loneliness, alienation, pain, and horror, and moods of tenderness and serenity come to the surface in each of his works. Sometimes these images are offshoots of an idea that may have crossed his mind. At other times, verses from poems resonate that may have made an impression on his mind.
The lines are bold, precise, and controlled and the drawings that emerge are powerful in both form and content. Stripped of color, they convey the architectural quality in structuring the images.
Pyne, as devoted to cinema as he is to painting, has also been inspired by the films made by Fellini and Ingmar Bergman. Today, he is known as the greatest exponent of the Bengal School of Art.
Pyne passed away in 2013.
BORN
June 11, 1937 Calcutta
DIED
March 12, 2013 Kolkata
EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS
1959 Government College of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010 His Mahabharata, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata
2006 An Enchanted Space The Private World of Ganesh Pyne, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata
2005 Ganesh Pyne A Pilgrim in the Domain of Shadows, a retrospective presented by Galerie 88, Mumbai at The Museum Gallery, Mumbai
2000 Exhibition of drawings on Mahabharata from 1967 to 1987 at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
1998 Ganesh Pyne A Retrospective 1952-1998, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Calcutta
1994 Sketches, The Village Gallery, New Delhi
1992 Notes, The Gallery, Kochi
1991 Notes, The Village Gallery, New Delhi
1990 Exhibition of illustrations for the book on Wajid Ali Shah, Galerie 88, Kolkata
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012 Diva, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2012 Expanding the line, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 Adbhutam Rasa in Indian Art, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata
2010 Yeh Image Mahan India meets Bharat, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata
2010 Paper Trails, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2010 Painters' Perception of Images and Symbols, Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata
2010 Symbols and Metaphors, CIMA International Modern Art Center, Kolkata
2009 Continuous Modern, Galerie 88, Calcutta
2009 Master Class, The Arts Trust, Mumbai
2009 Bharat Ratna Jewels of Modern Indian Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2009 Progressive to Altermodern 62 Years of Indian Modern Art, Grosvenor Gallery, London
2009 The Root of Everything, Mementos Gallery, Bangalore
2008 Modern and Contemporary Indian Art, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
2008 Stories, reflections and constructions, ITC Windsor, Bangalore
2008 Freedom 2008 Sixty years after India's independence, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Calcutta
2007 Indigenous modernity various trends, exhibition of paintings by prominent artists of West Bengal, dedicated to the memory of Bikash Bhattacharya at Aakriti Art Gallery, Kolkata
2007 Tales, Reflection & Constructs, organized by Galerie 88, Kolkata at ITC Windsor, Bangalore
2006-07 Inventing Inverted Traditions, Grosvenor Vadehra, London
2005 Special works, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata
2005 Drishti, Bodhi Art, Singapore
2004 Portraits of a Decade, organized by CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
2004 Face to face from 19th century to contemporary portraiture, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata
2003 Portraits of a Decade, organized by CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata
2003 Art of Bengal A Defined Vision, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata
2003 Art of Bengal A Defined Vision, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2002 Icons and symbols from Brahma to Bapu in Indian art, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Calcutta
2002 Icons and Symbols from Brahma to Bapu in Indian Art, organized by CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata at the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi
2001 Art of Bengal Past and Present, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata
2001 Art of Bengal Past and Present, organized by CIMA Center for International Modern Art, Kolkata at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai
2001 Works on paper, CIMA International Modern Art Center, Calcutta
2000 Shatabadi, organized by CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
2000 Shatabadi, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata
1998 Multimedia, CIMA International Center of Modern Art, Calcutta
1997 Image Beyond the Image, a contemporary Indian painting from the collection of the Glenbarra Museum of Art, Japan, exhibited at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi, Birla Academy of Arts and Culture, Kolkata, Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad, Bangalore, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai
1997 Color of Independence, organized by CIMA Center for International Modern Art, Kolkata in association with National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi
1997 Appointment with Destiny Art from Modern India, organized by CIMA Center for International Modern Art, Kolkata, and Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, in association with National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi at the Art Museum from Singapore, Singapore
1996 Chamatkara Myth and Magic in Indian Art, Whitley Art Gallery, London
1996 Contemporary Indian Paintings, Sotheby's, London
1996 Contemporary Indian Paintings, Sotheby's, New York
1995 Fantasy, CIMA International Center of Modern Art, Calcutta
1995 Contemporary Indian Paintings, Sotheby's, New York
1995 The Tree of My Life, The Village Gallery, New Delhi
1995 Contemporary Indian Paintings, Christie's, London
1993 Trends and Images, CIMA International Center of Modern Art, Calcutta
1993 Wounds, CIMA Center for International Modern Art, Calcutta and National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi
1993 Reflections and Images, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
1993 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
1990 Gallery 88, Calcutta
1989 Gallery 88, Calcutta
1989 Self-portraits, New Delhi
1989 Timeless Art, The Times of India Sesquicentenary, Mumbai
1988 Gallery 88, Calcutta
1986 Visions, Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta
1986 Indische Kunst Heute, Darmstadt, Germany
1982 Indische Kunst Heute, Darmstadt, Germany
1982 Contemporary Indian Art, Festival of India, Royal Academy of Arts, London
1982 Modern Indian Paintings, organized by the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) at the Hirschhorn Museum, Washington D.C.
1980 Indian Painting Today, Mumbai
1975 Contemporary Indian Paintings, Germany.
1972 25 years of Indian art, New Delhi
1970 Exhibition to benefit the Menuhin School of Music, Royal Academy of Arts, London
1970 Group exhibition, Germany
1969 Indian Painters 69, Calcutta
1968 World Youth Festival, Prague
1961 Birth Centenary of Rabindranath Tagore, Calcutta
1957 Memorial Exhibition 1957, First Indian Struggle for Independence, Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta
SELECTED POSTHUMOUS EXHIBITIONS
2014 Germinal, presented by Sanchit Art, New Delhi at India Art Fair, New Delhi
2013-14 Transition, 20th-anniversary exhibition, CIMA International Modern Art Centre, Kolkata
2013 Ideas of the Sublime, presented by Vadehra Art Gallery at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2013 A Tribute to Ganesh Pyne, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi
PARTICIPATIONS
2012 Crossings Time Unfolded, Part 2, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi
2011 Ethos 5 Indian Art through the Lens of History (1900 to 1980), Indigo Blue Art, Singapore
2011 Manifestations 5, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 Roots in the Air, Branches Below Modern and Contemporary Art from India, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose
2011 Time Unfolded, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), New Delhi
2010 Manifestations 4, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
1980 Contemporary Art from India, Japan
1980 Modern Asian Art, Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan
1978 Modern Asian Art, Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan
1975 International Painting Festival, France
1975 International Arts Festival, Cagnes-Sur-Mer
1971 Second International Triennale, New Delhi
1970 Paris Biennale, Paris
1968 International Triennial, New Delhi
2016 Two Faces of Bengali Modernism GANESH PYNE and LALU PRASAD SHAW, New Delhi
HONORS AND AWARDS
Raja Ravi Varma Award 2011 from the Government of Kerala
2009 Honorary D.Litt, Netaji Subhash Open University, Kolkata
2008 Lifetime Achievement Award, Star Ananda, Kolkata
2004 Abainindra Purashkar, Government of West Bengal
2003 D. Litt Honoris Causa, Kalyani University
1997 Gagan Abani Puroskar, Visva Bharati
1985 Shiromani Puroskar, Asian Paintings, Calcutta
1978 Artist of the Year, Sangeet Shyamala, Calcutta
1973 Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta
1957 Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta
1956 Calcutta Art Society, Calcutta
1955 Government College of Arts and Crafts, Calcutta
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