Important Notice

“Art penetrates life like an explosion of dance. I remember the forests. That memory makes me paint what I paint.”
- JANGARH SINGH SHYAM

Born in the village of Patangarh in Madhya Pradesh in the early 1960s, Jangarh Singh Shyam is acclaimed for pioneering a contemporary style of painting among the Pardhan tribe, who were primarily known for their oral and musical traditions. He rose to fame in the 1980s when his striking... “Art penetrates life like an explosion of dance. I remember the forests. That memory makes me paint what I paint.”
- JANGARH SINGH SHYAM

Born in the village of Patangarh in Madhya Pradesh in the early 1960s, Jangarh Singh Shyam is acclaimed for pioneering a contemporary style of painting among the Pardhan tribe, who were primarily known for their oral and musical traditions. He rose to fame in the 1980s when his striking painting style earned the attention of modernist Jagdish Swaminathan, who had been leading a trip across the state scouting for indigenous artistic talent. Swaminathan had been invited to set up the Roopankar Museum that was to be housed within the multi-arts complex Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal and became a mentor to the teenaged Shyam. He brought him to Bhopal where he began working with paper, canvas, poster colours, and acrylic paints for the first time.

Shyam went on to become one of the first indigenous Indian artists to gain mainstream recognition. He established a life-long association with Bharat Bhavan and built an impressive body of work that included illustrations for a children’s journal, large murals such as those in the courtyards of Vidhan Bhavan, the seat of the Madhya Pradesh state legislative assembly, and several drawings and paintings. He exhibited his works in India, Japan, and Europe, and left behind a strong legacy that is carried on by the artists he trained and encouraged during his lifetime.

Like many members of the Pardhan-Gond tribe, Shyam was an ardent animist who believed in the interconnectedness between man and nature. He developed an artistic style that gave visual form to the deities of the Gond tribe and depicted the flora and fauna of Madhya Pradesh’s forests where had grown up. Lots 76 and 77 display the complex technique of layering patterns over a base colour that exemplifies the style for which Shyam is best known. Both feature his most recognisable pattern formed by pointillist dots and a repeated wave motif comprising part of a concentric circle. Remarks artist and writer Aurogeeta Das, “In his paintings in colour, he adds numerous other forms to develop a vast bank of motifs, such as triangles, diamonds and other polygons, almonds, teardrops, irregular beans, leaves, and even, on occasion, hearts and paisleys… Jangarh plays around with a seemingly infinite pool of colours, first applying a base colour and then, employing a number of different colours for the dots making up the superimposed lines, curves, and motifs. While Jangarh’s monochrome works are a study in pattern, his multicolour works defy description; such is their scintillating effect.” (Aurogeeta Das, “Samvega, Aesthetic Shock: Jangarh’s Artistic Evolution,” Jangarh Singh Shyam: The Enchanted Forest, New Delhi: Roli Books, 2017, pp. 78 – 79)

Read More
Artist Profile
Other works of this artist in: this auction  |  entire site