As a part of the India’s 75th Independence Day celebrations, we posted about National Art Treasures of India on ArtKyk’s social media handles. The idea was to feature and commemorate the nine artists who are identified and deemed so under the Antiquities and Art Treasures act of 1972.
Aligned to the format of social media, the posts were crisp and short. However, since this is such an important aspect of India’s national heritage, we felt that we needed to unpack this category in detail.
We present our findings, thoughts and opinions through these posts. Please note this not a scholarly endeavor, but rather a setting of the context for ‘national art treasures’, and hopefully will lead to a wider, more nuanced discussion.
How did National Art Treasures Come About?
The aim of the Antiquities and Art Treasures Act of 1972 was primarily to make it illegal for taking Indian Antiquities outside the country. The trade for ancient artefacts was booming, and many historical and cultural sites were raided, with important artefacts removed. It was impossible for the government of the day to rightfully pursue or prosecute without any legislation.
What happened with the listing of artists as National Treasures was an anomaly. The list was proposed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). ASI’s primary objective is to excavate and maintain sites of national importance, therefore, we could not find the reason as to why ASI was accorded this responsibility, or indeed any basis for consultation or selection of the artists for the list.
In addition, this was not a comprehensive exercise and artists were added to the list at different times. The chronology for selection is provided below.
1976 – Rabindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher-Gil and Nandalal Bose
1979 – Raja Ravi Varma, Gaganendranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore, Nicholas Roerich and Sailoz Mukherjea.
In order to understand why we are going on about this, lets take a look at what ‘National Treasures’ mean in other countries, and how (possibly) it came to be adopted in India.
Japan, Philippines, and China are some of the countries that legally recognize National Treasures. The classification extends across the categories to include buildings, structures, fine arts and crafts. In these countries the list is dynamic, and it evolves as per identified need to preserve, promote and nurture any aspect of heritage and cultural forms. The basic concept is to protect the historical and cultural value for the generations to come and develop a sense of national pride - the concept of ‘nationalism’ through cultural heritage. Greece, Italy and some other European countries recognize this concept as well.
So how did the concept come to be adopted in India. This is what we have pieced together, so far. There is no documentation to accurately corroborate this, so this is an informed proposition! Unless we can get our hands on the government document from that time!
Okakura Kakuzo (1863-1913), a Japanese scholar and art critic, in 1888 and 1897, was appointed to conduct a survey to evaluate and catalogue 210,000 objects of artistic and /or historic merit in Japan. This was the precursor to the formulation of the National Treasures Act in Japan. Okakura Kakuzo propounded the concept of richness of Asia as a unit, he also spent time in Calcutta and had close associations with the Tagore family. There was a vibrant exchange of ideas - artists and scholars travelled back and forth between the two nations. We therefore believe that the first ideas about nationalism for cultural heritage and art forms stemmed from these exchanges, and the concept was subsequently adopted in India. In addition, we must remember that Indira Gandhi studied at Shantiniketan, the educational institution conceived and founded by Rabindranath Tagore in 1921 to promote Indian art and culture in an open format.
So somewhere from the idea of nationalism through cultural identity, the need to preserve and nurture Indian artists and art forms, the concept of cultural treasures, we ended up with a list of nine artists in the 1970s, selected by ASI, and as far as we can tell that apart from banning the exports of their works from India thereafter, nothing much else happened…
These are all questions. And we hope they can be pursued in scholarly earnestness!
National Art Treasures and Antiquities
What does it mean for an artist to be deemed as the National Art Treasures, quite simply this – any artwork created by these nine artists cannot be exported out of the country! Please don’t confuse this with the Antiquities Act, which designates any object which is over 100 years old cannot be exported. So, while the designation of ‘National Art Treasure’ adds value to the artist, this causes impediment for transactional purposes and even the artwork must not be exhibited outside the country. Thereby restricting the reach to a wider global audience.
The other ambiguity of artworks becoming 100 years and being designated antiquity is that soon most of India’s Modern artists would come under this purview! And then what? These would be deemed non-exportable; would need to be registered, which would also mean that only those galleries and dealers registered to deal in antiquities would be able to transact in the works! This bodes to be a very cumbersome exercise. It will restrict galleries, international museums, institutions, and fairs from exhibiting the works of these artists. There is an urgent need to evaluate the antiquities act in the context of Modern art, and to establish the appropriate mechanism to deal the soon-growing number of artists who are on the cusp of being deemed antiquity!
As a country in the nascent years (1970’s) of establishing itself as a modern State, we took a bold step to identify artists as beacons in the realm of visual art, over and above classical art and historical landmarks. But five decades later we seem to have stagnated. It is time to ask questions and look for a new direction.
The National Treasure Artists
Regardless of the status quo of the artists, their works are beautiful. For now, we talk about the nine treasures on the list and what makes them special!We start with the Tagores since that’s where the story begins.
The Tagores are one of the preeminent families from Calcutta in the late 19th and 20th century.
Rabindranath Tagore, a polymath and Nobel laureate for literature in 1913, is well known for his books, poems, plays, compositions, songs (he also wrote India’s national anthem), philosopher, social reformer. In addition, he was also an accomplished painter. A true modern man, he didn’t believe in living in the past, travelled extensively around the world (when air travel was non-existent). His vision for the new India was a country open to new ideas, while well rooted in its heritage. His school. Shantiniketan, is an embodiment of this dream, and still remains a much sought-after institution for the arts.
His works portray his deep commitment to his country, and speak of a profound, holistic understanding of life.
The other two Tagores on the national treasure list are his nephews Gaganendranath and Abanindranath.
Gangendranath, the older of the two was both a painter and a cartoonist. He embraced cubism in his works and is known as one of the early modernists of the Indian art. His personality and rather satirical views of the ‘Bhadralok’ (higher gentry of Calcutta) are evident in his cartoons!
Abanindranath, well versed in the arts, and following in the footsteps of his illustrious uncle and brother had definitive vision for the new India. He is also the creator of the now well recognised ‘Bharat Mata’ artwork. He created ‘Indian Society of Oriental Art’ to promote the idea of reenergising India’s art.
Their sister Sunayani Devi, though not featured on this list, was also an accomplished (self-taught) painter. We also want to point out that there is just one woman on the national treasure list, and it felt unfair to leave Sunayani Devi out, while the other two siblings are celebrated!
The next three on the list - Jamini Roy, Amrita Shergil and Raja Ravi Varma are the best known. There is a Hindi movie made on Ravi Varma, Amrita Shergil's beauty continues to fascinate, and they feature among the top billed artists in auctions - pick any catalogue and you will see the first few works will always be by Jamini Roy. Amrita Shergil and Raja Ravi Varma have been well talked about, in many of our social media posts as well. At cost of over simplifying (and a few raised eyebrows) - their styles and approach are completely different, but both the artists’ works reflects a coming together of Indian ethos and Western academic style. Some food for thought eh! Simplicity is also the hallmark of Jamini Roy's works. The playful cat, doe eyed Krishna, Gopis and mother and child, continues to bring joy. So much so that we have seen this imagery replicated as jewellery and even prints on sarees! But the simplicity carries a message - Jamini Roy's dream of every home having art!
The last three artists on the list are Nandalal Bose, Sailoz Mukherjee and Nicholas Roerich. Perhaps the least on the larger public consciousness, these artists have nevertheless left an indelible mark on the Indian art. Nandlal was closely associated with the Tagore's, his early works reflect the romanticised delicate watercolour works, however when he moved to Santiniketan his outlook underwent a radical shift and his works were bold and shaped the new India cultural ethos post-independence. Sailoz Mukherjea was the odd man, a loner he was not associated with artist groups and his sensibilities were honed to a Modern idiom.
One wonders why Nicholas is on this list, considering he is a Russian! But all these questions disappear when we look at his canvases, an ode to Indian Himalayas, their majesty, magnificence, and spirituality (he established the Agni Yoga Society in 1920). The canvases leave us spell bound, lost in an ever-lasting conversation, a reference to his continuous search for ‘Shambhala’ - land of happiness and peace.
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