Gallery 88 will be showcasing the works of Asit Kumar Haldar and his daughter Atasi Barua, starting today, called Father and Daughter— Laying Down the linework, which features line drawings by both the artists.
The exhibition will consist of 12 first edition prints of Asit Kumar Haldar's illustrations from the Rubaiyyat of Omar Khayyam (translated by Edward Fitzgerald). Each artwork displayed is a line drawing in colour, which illustrates specific verses from the Persian poem. Haldar was a poet himself and produced several illustrated books with Bengali translations of the Sanskrit text, as part of the Swadeshi cultural renewal project, along with other Bengal School artists.
His work stands out for the precision and detail with which he deals with the literary, historical or mythical themes. Debashish Banerji, the curator of the exhibition says, “Haldar’s illustrations are marked by his emphasis on culturally situated line explorations of form, posture, nature and architecture.”
His daughter’s drawings, on the other hand, shows a preoccupation with Buddhist themes. Her line drawings take inspiration from the life and times of the 23rd Tirthankara, Parshvanath, which has been recreated into the marble statues of the Digambar Jain Temple, Belgachia. Her works have been exhibited across India and abroad, in countries such as Colombo, Tehran, Cairo, Bangkok and Tokyo. Like her father, Atasi too deals with classical themes but combines a mixture of realistic techniques in her sketches.
“As a member of the Tagore family, Barua met many cultural luminaries of her time, mostly Bengali artists, writers, dramatists, singers and scholars. Proficient in making rapid sketches, she captured the facial likenesses of many of these acquaintances and had her own portrait gallery similar in quality and scale to that of Jyotirindranath Tagore,” informs Banerji.
The exhibition includes sketches of Rathin Maitra, Ho Chi Minh, Kalidas Nag, O C Gangooly and others, which are created with either, pencil or charcoal or pen & ink on paper. There are others works, such as Krishna and devotee or Devotee with lamp, which have been created with Chinese ink on paper. In addition, there are some works featuring stages in Gautama Buddha's life which have been created with oil on canvas, tempera on masonite board and gouache or watercolor on paper.
Father & Daughter - Laying Down the linework, an exhibition of Asit Kumar Haldar & Atasi Barua’s artwork will start on January 15 at 5 pm. On view till 15 February, 11 am to 7 pm