The Modern masters in spotlight

Post-Independence, notions of the figure and body became connected with the creation of new cultural identities as well as the broad social and political concerns facing a new nation. The display at New York’s Rubin Museum takes into consideration both psychological and artistic significance of figurative modes in these works.

As India's artists negotiated social, political and professional spaces for themselves in a fast-changing nation, the way they represented the body continually evolved. Young painters like Husain, Souza, Raza and embraced avant-garde European movements such as Expressionism and Cubism, They advocated for a fresh relook on rich Indian art traditions and ethos as well.

After the country gained independence, strands of secularism and modernity strengthened, as artistic collectives like the Delhi Silpi Chakra and the Progressive Artists' Group in Mumbai worked towards establishing and disseminating a new India’s artistic and cultural identities. The groups blended international modernist styles like Expressionism with ideas and imagery, which resonated locally.

Incidentally, paintings by the Modern masters are now commanding high prices, scaling new records at international auctions. Of course, that wasn’t the case just a decade ago. In 2003, Tyeb Mehta’s works drew rather low valuations at auction. But the late artist’s woks set new records subsequently. His ‘Untitled (Figure on Rickshaw, 1984)’ fetched $3.2 million in a recent auction, whereas ‘Saurashtra’ (1983), an abstract canvas by Raza, went for $3.5 million at Christie's London in 2010, a new record for the artist.

Post-Independence paintings are having a positive market momentum. “Apart from increased visibility in international museums, the Indian economic boom is greatly boosting demand for works (made after independence),” Christie's (New York) modern contemporary Indian art specialist Deepanjana Klein explains to Rachel Wolf of The Wall Street Journal, as part of a detailed review of works by Tyeb Mehta, Maqbool Fida Husain, and Syed Haider Raza among others on the eve of a grand international museum show.