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G R Santosh
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"Painting to me is like poetry - timeless and universal."
Poet-painter Gulam Rasool Santosh, who comes from the beautiful Kashmir valley, was born in 1929, in a middle class family. He once said in an interview, "In Kashmir, art was taught in school after class V. But I remember drawing in class II, starting, at the onset, on a landscape which I liked so much that I concentrated on landscapes, doing several of these before I changed...
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"Painting to me is like poetry - timeless and universal."
Poet-painter Gulam Rasool Santosh, who comes from the beautiful Kashmir valley, was born in 1929, in a middle class family. He once said in an interview, "In Kashmir, art was taught in school after class V. But I remember drawing in class II, starting, at the onset, on a landscape which I liked so much that I concentrated on landscapes, doing several of these before I changed my style."
He completed his matriculation in 1945, with painting as a subject but was forced to give up the thought of further studies because of his father’s death. Santosh took up several odd jobs like signboard painting, silk weaving and whitewashing walls to support himself. Slowly, he began concentrating on commercial art and became a skilful papier-mache artist. In 1950, Santosh joined the Progressive Arts Association in Kashmir, formed as a result of artist S H Raza's efforts to mobilise Kashmiri painters. Santosh exhibited across India as a member of this association. In 1954, he won the government scholarship to study Fine Arts under the tutelage of artist N S Bendre at the MS University, Baroda.
In his early years, Santosh was greatly influenced by geometric shapes and the mysticism of the Kashmir valley. His treatment of snow-clad houses and the backwaters on the banks of river Jhelum reveals his finely tuned sense of visual perception and is an example of splendid semi-abstract treatment. Although Santosh began by painting landscapes, he was gradually influenced by Cubism and switched over to creating Cubist landscapes, a theme for which he is very popular now. Says Shabir, his son, who is also an artist, "Even though he was influenced by Cubism, one could feel the emotional attachment my father had for his native place, which allowed him to give a refreshing treatment to his work."
In 1964, a visit to the Amarnath temple proved another turning point for the artist and he stopped painting to study Tantra (mysticism) and Kashmir Shaivism (a sect of Shiva followers). Later, inspired by the Tantra philosophy, he combined the male and female form and finally worked round to paint a pure image of the human form, leaving out the face, hands, and feet. For a while, therefore, his subjects came to be dominated by the Shiv-Shakti.
The artist's contribution to Tantric art spearheads the movement in the art world. In a series of seventeen paintings he did in the 1970s, Santosh portrays the chronic, indefinable solitude and loneliness that plagues the modern man. One critic describes the artist's style and imagination to be "of the landscape of the heart rather than of any geographical region." The paintings were done in translucent colours of red, black and white.
Since 1953, Santosh has held over thirty one-man shows. In 1973, he received the Lalit Kala Akademi award and the Padma Shri in 1977.
The artist passed away in 1997 in New Delhi.
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Born
June 20, 1929
Srinagar Kashmir
Died
March 10, 1997
Education
1954-56 Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda.(Student of N. S. Bendre)
1947-53 Self-Taught Craftsman, Painter, Weaver.
Exhibitions
Selected Posthumous Exhibitions
2017 'Perennial Transcendence',...
Selected Posthumous Exhibitions
2017 'Perennial Transcendence', presented by Sanchi Art at India Art Fair, New Delhi
2017 'Tantra', Art Konsult, New Delhi
2015 'Abby Grey and Indian Modernism: Selections from the NYU Art Collection', Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York
2013 'The Naked and the Nude: The Body in Indian Modern Art', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2012 'Awakening: A Retrospective of G R Santosh', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 'Ethos V: Indian Art Through the Lens of History (1900 to 1980), Indigo Blue Art, Singapore
2011 ‘Manifestations VI', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 ‘Manifestations V', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2011 'Celebrations 2011', Annual Exhibition, Kumar Art Gallery, New Delhi
2010 'Above and Beyond', Aicon Gallery, London
2010 'Manifestations IV', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2010 'Celebration 2010', Annual Exhibition, Kumar Art Gallery, New Delhi
2009 'Bharat Ratna! Jewels of Modern Indian Art', Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
2009 'The Root of Everything', Gallery Mementos, Bangalore
2008-09 ''Modern India', organized by Institut Valencià d'Art Modern (IVAM) and Casa Asia, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture at Valencia, Spain
2008 'Moderns', Royal Cultural Centre, Amman, Jordan organized by Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi in collaboration with Embassy of India, Amman, Jordan
2008 'Frame Figure Field: 20th Century Modern and Contemporary Indian Art', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2007 ‘From the Vault’, Highlights from the Herwitz and Gallery Collection, Aicon Gallery, New York
2007 Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2005 ‘Unrealistically’, ArtsIndia, New York
2005 ‘Contours of Modernity - An Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art’, Founder's Hall of SOKA University of America in Aliso Viejo, CA
2005 ‘Manifestations III : Hundred Artists from the Delhi Art Gallery Collection’, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2004 ‘Manifestations II', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
2003 ‘Manifestations I', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi and World Trade Centre, Mumbai
Selected Solo Exhibitions
1994 Dhoomimal Art Centre, New Delhi
1991 Little Theatre Gallery, New Delhi
1989 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
1985 Dhoomimal Art Centre, New Delhi
1983 'Santosh', Gallery TAI IN, Seoul
1982 'Modern Indian Paintings', Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.,USA
1982 'Contemporary Indian Art', Festival of India, Royal Academy of Art, London
1979-80 'Contemporary Indian Art', organized by National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) at Japan
1978 Exhibition at South Korea
1978 Triveni Kala Sangam, Gallery Chanakya, New Delhi
1976 South Korea
1976 ‘Acrylics’, Gallery Chanakya, New Delhi
1975 ‘Pencil Drawings’, Gallery Chanakya, New Delhi
1974 Exhibition dedicated to Urdu Writer Thakur Poonchi, Srinagar
1973 Gallery Chanakya, New Delhi
1970 Gallery Chanakya, New Delhi
1970 Bistidari, New Delhi
1969 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai
1968 Dhoomimal Art Centre, New Delhi
1968 Gallery Chemould, Mumbai
1967 Kunika Chemould Art Centre, New Delhi
1964 Revel Gallery, New York
1962 Gallery Mayer, New York, Kumar Gallery, Kolkata, Kabul, Tel Aviv, Los Angeles, Devorah Sherman Gallery, Chicago
1962,71 Kumar Gallery, New Delhi
1953,57,59,62,64 Mumbai
1953-56,63 Srinagar
Selected Group Exhibitions
1992 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai
1984 'Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Painters', National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi
1984 'Neo-Tantra', National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), New Delhi and Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi
1983 'Tantra', Stuttgart, West Germany and South Korea
1980 Paintings in the Miniature format, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1979-80 'Contemporary Indian Art', National Gallery of Modern Art at Japan
1973 'Contemparary Indian Painting', Washington D.C.
1972 Cannes, France
1972 'Contemporary Indian Painting', GDR (German Democratic Republic)
1971 Exhibition at Los Angeles, U.S.A.
1971 'Tantra Art', Montreal
1971 'Contemporary Art of India', Japan
1965 'Ten Contemporary Painters', M.LT. Cambridge and New Jersey State Museum
1963-64 'Ten Contemporary Painters from India', University of South Florida, Tampa
1963-64 Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville
1963-64 Delgado Museum of Art (New Orleans Museum of Art), New Orleans
1963-64 Hunter Gallery of Art, Chattanooga, Colorado Springs
1963-64 Long Beach Art Centre, San Francisco, East-West Centre, Honolulu and continued in Hong Kong, Manila and Singapore
1963,65 Mainichi, Tokyo
1961 National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
1959 'Modern Indian Art', Cairo
1959 'Contemporary lndian Painters', Japan
1956 Indian Exhibition to Eastern Europe
1950 Shows with Progressive Artists Association
Joint Exhibitions
1980 With artist Om Prakash, Lalit Kala Akademi Gallery, New Delhi
Participations
1988 Second National Biennale, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal
1988 'Festival of India', Takaoka Municipal Museum of Art, Toyama, Japan and Meguro Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan
1985-86 'Neo-Tantra: Contemporary Indian Painting Inspired by Tradition, Festival of India', Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery, University of California, Los Angeles, U.S.A.
1982 'Contemporary Indian Art, Festival of India', Royal Academy of Art, London
1982 Vth International Triennale, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1982 'Modern Indian Paintings', Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.
1980 'Contemporary Indian Art', Lalit Kala Akademi, held at Dubai
1980 'Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Painters', Lalit Kala Akademi, held at Japan
1977 Bulgaria International Art Exhibition
1973 National Exhibition, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1968,78,82 First, Fourth and Fifth International Triennale, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1963,69,72 Sao Paulo Biennale, Brazil
1965 Mainichi Biennale, Japan
1961 Paris Biennale, Paris, France
1959 'Contesrporary Art from India', Museum Folkwang, Essen Stadtische Kunsthalle, Recklinghausen, Museum Ostwall im Dortmunder Galerie Pel ate, Zurich
1957 National Exhibition, New Delhi
Honours and Awards
1997 Doctorate of Literature (LittD), posthumous, by University of...
1997 Doctorate of Literature (LittD), posthumous, by University of Jammu
1997 Posthumous citation and special prize for 'extraordinary contribution in the field of Art and Literature', by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir
1992 Zehne Jadid Aitraaf for best interview published in the Urdu magazine Zehne Jadid
1991 Kala Ratna Award, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi
1985 Kalhana Award, The Kashmir Education and Science Society, New Delhi
1984 Artist of the Year, Sahitya Kala Parishad, New Delhi
1979 Sahitya Akademi Award for Besukh Ruh (his collection of poems)
1977 Awarded Padmashri, Government of India
1973 National Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1964 National Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1959 First Prize, Kalidasa Jayanti Exhibition
1957 National Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1955-56 Governor of Bombay’s Prize
1954-56 Cultural Scholarship, Government of India
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