Will the watercolors get their due?

The Bengal masters, namely the Tagores, Ram Kinkar Baij, Benode Bihari Mukhopadhyay, Nandalal Bose etc have all made watercolor, later followed by Ganesh Haloi and Shyamal Datta Ray, who added a depth and intensity to the medium when the Bengal school of Art traditionally used light and watery colors. “To me there are immense possibilities in it and I find it capable of expressing my delicate and finer feelings with it,” he had said.

In India, top contemporary artists like Atul Dodiya have recently created a major watercolor series. Prashant Prabhu, Paresh Maity, Sanjay Bhattacharya and Samir Mondal have also left an indelible mark in watercolors. “Picture making in watercolor is an exciting game. Color becomes my opponent. Every stroke of my brush is countered by color itself and overwhelms me.” This is how the latter sums up his practice. Julius Macwan’s watercolor works carry a lovely abstract feel to them.

Emerging artists like Sandip Roy stick to a traditional medium of transparent watercolor, even while trying to break new ground with his magical imagery as evident in a show at the Kolkata based gallery. These artists are keen to overturn a simplistic assumption that watercolors suit only the traditional representational painting, notably, the sea, buildings and picturesque landscape. By introducing innovative concepts and compositions, they are displaying their keenness to reinterpret the medium and notions surrounding it.

The prices of oils and acrylics have continued to rise over barring the last few recessionary years as reflected in the increasing demand. Though they may be perceived to be richer than watercolor, hence drawing higher prices, this doesn’t mean watercolors in any way have lost their fascination with collectors. It’s just that price levels for this genre of art have been comparatively more modest.

For example, a small watercolor work by Husain would fetch less than Rs 50 lakh. On the other hand, a canvas in any other medium of the same size by him could easilly be pegged in the range of Rs 60-80 lakh . To an extent, this mirrors the general thinking that a watercolor need not be rated and paid highly, which is not correct.

Market participants observe that they have generally been slightly more popular and in focus in the eastern part of the world, comprising Japan and China, in recent times. Despite the growing market for oil and acrylic works as well as new media forms like video art in recent years, it is watercolors that will hopefully grab the attention of connoisseurs. It’s high time that the magical medium gets its due in India.