Life in Indian Art : an analytical view by Dr. Ved Prakash Bhardwaj

 

Painting by Amrita Sher-Gil. Bride Toilet. Source: public domain

Indian art has always been connected with life. Whether we look at folk traditions, tribal paintings, miniature schools, or modern and contemporary works, one important element remains constant: the celebration of everyday life. The forms, themes, and styles may change from one century to another, but life continues to be the central inspiration behind Indian creativity.

Woodcut by Chittoprasad

From ancient times onward, art in India has never belonged only to kings, temples, or wealthy classes. It has flourished in villages, on mud walls, in courtrooms, on palm leaves, in caves, and on canvas. It grows wherever there is life, emotion, memory, and imagination. Thus, Indian art becomes not only a visual expression but also an archive of how people lived, how they worked, how they worshipped, how they celebrated, and how they felt.

life in mithila painting

Folk and Tribal Art: Art Rooted in Life

The clearest example of life-based art is found in folk and tribal art. In these traditions, art is not a separate profession or a luxury; it is a part of living. A festival, a wedding, a harvest season, or a ritual automatically produces art. The walls of houses become the canvas, and nature provides the tools—soil, leaves, stones, plant colors.

Paintings from Madhubani, Warli, Gond, Pattachitra, Bhil art, Sohrai, and Kalamkari show a world full of farming, marriage rituals, forests, gods, animals, motherhood, and music. There is no artificial separation between life and art. Nature, society, faith, and everyday work become inseparable parts of this expression.

Warli painting

These works rarely show kings or dramatic heroism. Instead, they present simple, yet profound, slices of existence—women preparing food, farmers sowing seeds, hunters in the forest, children playing, birds, cattle, seasonal festivities, and community gatherings. The beauty of folk art lies in its simplicity, vitality, and closeness to nature.

Miniature Painting: Life Replaced by Royalty

When we turn to miniature painting, life seems to take a different form. Miniature schools such as Mughal, Rajasthani, Deccani, and Pahari Kalam were largely funded by kings and emperors. As a result, artists painted what the courts demanded: royal portraits, hunting expeditions, palace love stories, religious scenes, and mythological narratives.

Common life disappeared from these surfaces. Instead of farmers or ordinary women, we see richly dressed rulers, queens, musicians, elephants, court dancers, and divine figures. Even when nature appears, it is more decorative than lived. The trees, rivers, birds, and mountains serve beauty rather than experience.

Despite their technical brilliance and delicate brushwork, miniature paintings often remain distant from everyday realities. They show an idealized or luxurious life that belonged only to a few.

Painting by Ram Kinkar Baij

Modern Art Brings Back Ordinary Life

Amrita Sher-Gil was one of the earliest and most influential modernist painters in India to portray the everyday lives of ordinary people, especially women. At a time when much of Indian art focused on mythology or elite subjects, Sher-Gil shifted attention toward the lived experiences of the common man. Her works—such as Three Girls, Bride’s Toilet, and Village Scene—capture the emotional depth, struggles, and quiet dignity of rural life. Through this focus, she helped bring the realities of ordinary individuals into the mainstream of modern Indian art, earning her recognition as a pioneer who humanized and modernized artistic representation in India.

Paintign by Haku Shah

With the rise of modern art, life once again becomes the focus of Indian creativity. The colonial period introduced western education in art schools like the JJ School of Art in Mumbai, where artists learned perspective, anatomy, oil techniques, and realism. Although the style was influenced by European methods, the subject matter began to shift toward Indian life.

Painting by Nandlal Bose

Urban cities, markets, colonial streets, industrial workers, students, middle-class families, and office employees started appearing on canvas. Meanwhile, the Bengal School took inspiration from Indian heritage, rural culture, and the simplicity of folk life. Artists like Nandalal Bose, Binod Bihari Mukherjee, Yamini Roy and Abanindranath Tagore rejected both western romanticism and courtly extravagance. They painted humans engaged in everyday tasks—women drawing water from wells, farmers working, children learning, village fairs, and devotional practices.

For the first time, ordinary women were not treated as decorative figures. They were shown working in the fields, raising children, walking to rivers, selling goods, and performing rituals with dignity and strength. The most powerful contribution came from Ramkinkar Baij, whose sculptures and paintings brought tribal life and rural labourers to the forefront. His large sculptures of Santhal people, especially the Santhal Family, are milestones in Indian art. They show peasants walking with their children and belongings, symbolizing strength, survival, and migration. Through such works, art stepped into the real world of struggle, identity, and social truth.

Painting by Satish Gujral

Art after Independence: New Ideas, New Realities

After independence, India entered a new journey full of hope, pain, and questions. The horrors of Partition, the dream of democracy, growth of capitalism, rise of socialism and communism, and rapid modernization affected artists deeply. Art was no longer only about depicting life; it was also about questioning life.

Painting by Arpana Caur

In the 1960s and 1970s, artists began to paint not only what they saw, but also what they felt, thought, feared, and protested against. The canvas became a space for emotional and psychological exploration. Themes such as poverty, gender inequality, social injustice, political violence, loneliness, and identity crises came into focus.

Painting by Arpita Singh

Artists like Somnath Hore, Chittaprosad, M.F. Husein, Souza, Tyeb Mehta, Akbar Padamsee, Bhupen Khakhar, NS Bendre, Arpita Singh, Anjali Ela Menon, B. Prabha, Ganesh Pyne, Shyamal Dutta Ray, Bikas Bhattacaryjee, Jogen Chowdhury, Manu Parekh, Madhavi Parekh, Dhiraj Chowdhury, prakash Krmakar, Paritosh Sen, Satish Gujral, Jai Zarotia, Amit Ambalal, Hakku Shah, Gulam Mohammd Shekh, Neelima Shekh, Rekha Rodvittia, N. Pushpmala, Lalitha Lazami, Naina Kanodia, Latika Katta, and many more pushed Indian art toward new directions. They expressed not just appearances, but underlying truths. The influence of global movements, political journalism, student activism, and industrialization made art more critical and reflective.

Paintign by Gulam Mohammad Shekh

Art did not change society directly, but it transformed how intellectuals and thinkers looked at society. It offered a mirror that did not beautify reality but revealed its cracks.

Painting by Jogen Chowdhury

Life and Conceptual Art in the 21st Century

In the 21st century, Indian art entered a new phase dominated by conceptual ideas, surreal forms, unusual materials, and experimental installations. The artist’s focus shifted from how a painting looks to what it means. Sometimes the concept dominates so strongly that the visual form becomes secondary or confusing for viewers.

painting by Jagannath Panda

This created a distance between the art and the audience. Art now required explanation, writing, curatorial notes, and sometimes technical understanding. Many viewers began to feel excluded. Yet, alongside conceptual art, many artists continued to engage deeply with life by showing pain, memory, gender struggles, environmental issues, migration, and urban isolation.

Painting by Vijender Sharma

Artists like Arpita Singh, Sudhir Patwardhan, Laxma Goud, Satish Gujral, Jogen Chowdhury, Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh, Neelima Shekh, Lalitha Lazami, B. Prabha, Dheeraj Choudhury, Atul Dodiya, Neeraj Goswami, Sanjay Bhattacharya, Vijender Shrma, Jagannath Panda, Rekha Rodwittia, G.R. Iranna, Arpana Caur, Gogi Saroj Pal, Ved Nayer, Shipra Bhattacharya, Maruti Shilke, K.S. Radhakrishnan, GR Iranna, Jagannath Panda, Veer Munshi, Arun Panidt,  and many others continue to keep life at the centre of their art. On the other hand, abstract and experimental artists such as Prabhakar Barwe, Prabhakar Kolte, Jeram Patel, Shobha Broota, Amitava Das, Mona Rai, Santosh Verma, Manish Pushkale, Amrut Patel, Anil Gaikwad, Nupur Kundu, Harpreet Singh, Pandurang Tathe, Vijayraj Bodhankar, And many more explore life through colour, texture, and form rather than direct representation.

Painting by Veer Munshi

The Challenge of Medium-Based Art Today

A new trend today focuses heavily on unconventional materials—metal scraps, plastics, digital projections, industrial waste, sound, light, fabric, and recycled products. While experimentation is necessary, problems arise when medium becomes more important than meaning. When art stops reflecting life, it risks losing its human connection. Many viewers find themselves unable to relate or understand what they are looking at.

Art must evolve, but it must not forget the society from which it grows. If art forgets life, it becomes hollow; if art remembers life, it remains meaningful.

The journey of Indian art shows one unbroken truth: art survives only when it is connected to life. Whether it is the tribal painter using natural colours, the miniature artist painting court life, the modern painter exploring labourers, or the contemporary artist expressing identity struggles—each reflects a lived reality.

Indian art is not merely visual decoration; it is a living dialogue with people, nature, dreams, pain, and hope. As long as art continues to breathe the air of life, it will evolve, challenge, inspire, and remain rooted in the soil of human experience. Art that comes from life goes back to life, and this intimate relationship is what makes Indian art unique, diverse, and eternally alive.

Note: All Images from public domain and used only for refrence. 

Art by Nikas Safronov - by Dr. Ved Prakash Bhardwaj

 

Nikas Safronov

Ancient architecture, especially monuments, embodied art, but modern art limited art to painting and sculpture. Installation art challenged this, and video art completely changed this notion. However, when an artist integrates both installation and video, using artificial intelligence, the very meaning of art changes. Then, art is not in the object itself but in the environment. The environment becomes a work of art, an art experience. Russian artist Nikas Safronov's exhibition is a similar one. It features paintings that are transformed into moving landscapes through AI. His son, Luka, has made the still images dynamic. This exhibition exemplifies how technology can transform the art experience. His exhibition, currently on view at the Lalit Kala Akademi Gallery in Delhi, opened on December 5^th  and is on view until December 21^st. This exhibition is captivating, grand, and not only captivates but also amazes people, especially young people. The audience's reactions during the exhibition reflected curiosity rather than artistic awareness.

This exhibition calls for a new debate. Experiments have been conducted before to transform paintings into movable environments. Such experiments have already been conducted with Van Gogh's art, and exhibitions have been held worldwide. In these exhibitions, Van Gogh's works were transformed through technology into environments that, upon entering, made the viewer feel a part of the works. So, are the days of traditional forms of art, such as painting and sculpture, over? No, they are not, because painting and sculpture are at the center of all the experiments conducted so far.

This exhibition showcases many dimensions of his art. Along with painting and sculpture, it also includes installation art. These installations feature artificial flowers blooming, lighting effects, and natural environments. The exhibition space has been completely transformed for this purpose. From the colour of the walls to the entrance and floor, everything has been transformed into a natural environment. Outside the gallery, there are large elephant sculptures, which are captivating with paintings.

Elephants appear several times in his works, such as the video installation upon entering the gallery, which shows an elephant moving from one corner to another. The environment in which this elephant is placed also reveals Banaras. Ganesha is also depicted in the form of a painting. India is reflected on many levels in Nikas's art. In many of his paintings, we see Shiva, Dashavatara, gods and goddesses, etc. This reveals the cultural interconnectedness between India and Russia. However, in this exhibition, art, despite its true form, has been neglected. AI or animation technology creates a magical effect, possesses grandeur, and makes the impossible possible. But when miracles become everything, art dies, as was evident in this exhibition. Nikas is a painter and a sculptor, but when a painter or sculptor surrenders their art to technology, their existence disappears. Technology gives their art a magical effect, making many amazing effects possible. In this exhibition, each painting is accompanied by a QR code, which, when scanned, makes the painting appear as a video on a mobile phone.

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Finity - Infinity of Subh Das and Suvajit Samanta

Curator Vinod Bhardwaj with Subh Das and Suvajit Samanta

Subh Das with Niren Sengupta

Everything about life does not necessarily reflect life in ways we are accustomed to seeing. The joint exhibition Finity Infinity by Subha Das and Suvajit Samanta, held at the LTC Gallery in Bikaner House, Delhi, from December 6–11, illustrates this idea. Curated by Vinod Bhardwaj and presented by Uday Jain, Director of Dhoomimal Gallery, the exhibition brings together two artists who engage with reality from distinct yet complementary perspectives.

paintings by Subh Das and one sculpture by Suvajit (in centre)

one sculpture bt Suvajit Samanta and two paintings by Subh Das

Subha Das has been working with Banaras as a theme for some time. In a few of his paintings, sketches of the city’s ghats and temples appear clearly, yet in most works the city recedes behind layers of paint—felt rather than seen. Banaras exists both within the body and beyond it; it is at once physical and immaterial. Das conveys this duality through an abstract visual language.

one mixed media sculpture by Suvajit Samanta

Suvajit Samanta, a sculptor, approaches life differently. His use of mixed media, his leanings toward abstraction, and his tendency to merge multiple subjects into a single form invite us to move beyond traditional ways of looking at art—and life. His sculptures draw on memory and a critical lens, and this is why a subtle sense of satire emerges in some of his works.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Uma Jain of Dhumimal Art Gallery, art critic Sushma Bahl, curator Vinod Bhardwaj, Uday Jain, senior artist Niren Sengupta, Biman B Das, etc. A large number of artists and art lovers were present at the exhibition, including Sanjay Das, Shikha Gupta, Bipin Kumar, Maitreyi Kumar, Jai Tripathi, Dr. Ved Prakash Bhardwaj, Sonali Choudhary, Anoop Chand, Shubhra Chand, Shikha Sinha, Praveen Mahto, SK Mishra, Anand Moy Banarji, Ashwinikumar Prathwiwashi, ShriDhar iyara, etc.

Jai Tripathi, Dr. Ved Prakash Bhardwaj, Bipin Kume and Moitreyi Kumar

Praveen Mahto, Ravi, naval kishor, Shampa Bhattacharya and Chuttan meena

Subh Das with Shridhar iyar

Aswinikumar Prithviwasi

Liminal Ground : Group Show

 

artists and guests. 

Liminal Ground was a group exhibition of young artists establishing their presence in contemporary art, showcasing impressive works in painting and ceramics. The exhibition took place at the Arpana Caur Art Gallery in Delhi from December 3-7. 

Bappaditya's Painting

Painting by Swapan Pal

The artists included in this exhibition are Anuja Panjwani, Bappaditya Roy Choudhury, Milan Karmakar, Suraj Gorai, and Swapan Pal. Bappaditya Roy Choudhury and Swapan Pal are painters, while the remaining three are ceramic artists. Swapan Pal creates emotional images of motherhood, characterized by a striking balance of brown and black. He works with acrylics and pencil on canvas. Bappaditya's work, however, is dominated by abstract images of natural beauty. The geometric divisions in his acrylic paintings give his paintings a distinct dimension, thus, his paintings, despite being abstract, also hint at reality. 

Works by Anuja Panjwani

Suraj Gorai's work

Anuja Panjwani's ceramic works are closer to installation art. She often assembles small pottery into a group. Her work with bangles is also impressive. Suraj Gorai's ceramics have a purely sculptural quality. His ceramics are essentially collages, often using remnants of unfinished and damaged pottery. Many images of memory and surrounding life are reflected in his works. Similarly, Milan Karmakar's ceramics are also crafts. His works impress more with their ideas than with their form.  

Work by Milan Karmakar

Organized Chaos : a new way to see a city by Dr. Ved Prakash Bhardwaj

 

Harpreet Singh with his paintings

"Organized Chaos" is is an exhibition by Harpreet Singh, held at the Triveni Gallery of the Triveni Kala Sangam in Delhi from December 5th to 13th, 2025. Harpreet Singh is an abstract artist who values ​​ideas over form. His art clearly reflects the experience of an artist coming from a well-organized city like Chandigarh to the chaotic city of Delhi, which boasts of order. Only a sensitive artist can understand how Delhi, a city filled with immense human activity, a turbulent and constantly restless bustle, and its connected cities, in their structural density, render human presence meaningless. Therefore, in Harpreet's work, we find abstract structures that could be the face of any city. But there is no human face to accompany this face because such a face is no longer possible to associate with any city. Delhi has no face of its own, no personality that completes its identity. 

Delhi is not perfect, and that is why its dreams, which are actually the dreams of the people, are never fulfilled. Therefore, there are structures, not structures. This pain is readily felt in Harpreet's work. It can also be understood through the chaos that pervades the structures in his art. This exhibition includes works made on everything from scraps of wood to computer magazines and other similar materials, revealing his creative restlessness. This can also be seen as the presence of a sense of consciousness within the inanimate. The sheer emptiness within this presence reveals the structural nature of the metropolis, which lacks space for life.

Texture, Form, and Social Vision: The Art of Maruti Shelke By Dr. Ved Prakash Bhardwaj

 

Maruti Shelke

When an artist distinguishes himself through both subject matter and technique, he attains a unique place in contemporary art—and Maruti Shelke (Full name Maruti Baburao Shelke) is one such artist. Over nearly three decades, he has explored many creative approaches, but in recent years he has developed a technique that sets him apart. His work is figurative and rooted in concrete representation, focusing on the human form and human life. Social themes—particularly his innovative expressions of gender equality—are central to his practice.

The most striking and unusual feature of his technique is that he never uses a brush to create human figures or any other forms. Instead, his entire painting process relies on a roller. Working in multiple layers of oil paint on canvas, he begins with dark tones and gradually applies lighter ones. The texture produced through this roller-based method gives his work its distinct character. To form figures, he uses engraving, enabling him to achieve crisp, sharp lines. He is the only figurative painter known to work entirely without a brush, and no other comparable example of this technique exists.

Maruti Shelke's art is a complete and thoughtful combination of beauty, ideas, and social responsibility. His paintings are not only visually appealing but also reflect his understanding of human life and social problems. His thoughts about human relationships and society are clearly visible in his paintings. Born in 1970, Maruti Shelke has progressed step by step in his artistic journey. He received his early education at the Raheja School of Art. He then continued his studies at the renowned J.J. School of Art in Mumbai and pursued higher education at Nagpur University. His artistic talent and dedication have earned him a special place in Indian art. He has received significant honors for his art, including the Maharashtra State Art Award in 1993, the Art Society of India Award in 1997,  and the South Central Zone Cultural Center Award in 2003. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Lalit Kala Akademi. In addition to being a painter, he shares his knowledge through books on art education, one of which is "Sketching and Drawing – A Personal View." This reveals that he is not just an artist who paints, but also a teacher and thinker who wants others to understand art deeply.

From an early age, he was interested in figurative art, which primarily focuses on human forms. Social involvement and close observation of life shaped his thinking. Understanding social structures made him realize that discrimination between men and women still exists in every aspect of life. He began to consider how this inequality affects human dignity. As an artist, he felt a responsibility to respond to such injustice. Instead of loud or angry protests, he preferred to express his views through the sensitive and calm language of art.

Maruti Shelke found unique ways to question gender discrimination in her paintings. One of his most unique decisions was to depict both men and women without hair. In Indian culture, hair is often considered a mark of a woman's beauty, but this very mark also restricts women's freedom by confining them to certain standards of appearance. Similarly, clothing becomes a limitation that dictates how a woman should or should not be. Maruti Shelke deliberately removes these limitations. When he paints men and women without hair, he attempts to remove judgments about beauty and gender. Through this, he envisions a society where physical differences may exist, but they do not become a cause of inequality. He recognizes that men and women are inherently different in terms of biology and anatomy, but he does not believe these differences justify discrimination. In fact, he sees that differences often become the basis for injustice and social hierarchies. This is how social structures like patriarchy, caste, and economic inequality are formed. He rejects this system. This can be said to be a special feature of their art, whereas such a concept of equality is rarely found even among women artists and other feminism supporters. They fight discrimination, but sometimes they inadvertently reinforce it instead of eliminating it. Maruti Shelke's approach is different. Instead of fighting the established discrimination between men and women, he attempts to eliminate the visible differences. In doing so, gender equality becomes a natural starting point in his paintings. Although some of his works depict women in traditional Indian clothing, he mostly avoids elements that suggest inequality. His aim is not to highlight women as a separate symbol, but to show all human beings as equals.

Maruti Shelke's art isn't just about thought; it also focuses on exquisite artistic quality. His color choices are particularly noteworthy. His paintings use light, pastel, and soothing colours. These colours convey tenderness, peace, and compassion. According to Maruti Shelke, humans are inherently kind. No child is born with cruelty or harshness. As a person grows up, circumstances and social pressures alter their temperament, making them angry or ruthless. To reflect the natural tenderness of human character, he chooses light, soft colours. His paintings lack harsh colours or overt violence. In fact, his colour palette reflects his personality. He speaks calmly, smiles naturally, and expresses his thoughts simply. His calm nature is directly reflected in his colour choices.

Another strong quality in his paintings is his use of line. Because he paints human figures, lines are essential for conveying form. Many artists use bold and strong lines. In contrast, Shelke's lines are calm, precise, and rhythmic. They are not forceful, yet expressive. They gently hold the figures and give them structure, while also connecting them to their surroundings. His lines are delicate enough to show beauty, yet strong enough to convey form. The planning of form, lines, and color together creates a balanced and beautiful composition.

Maruti Shelke's canvases also demonstrate a thoughtful use of empty space. He doesn't fill every part of the canvas with colour or form. Large areas remain open or empty. This emptiness has a distinct meaning. It is a way to allow the figures to stand independently, effectively asserting their identity and presence. In some larger works, he creates human groups, but in most paintings, he creates images of couples or families, or focuses on relationships between individuals. These small human groups appear calmer, closer, and more social. The silence surrounding the figures becomes a space for respect, freedom, and reflection. It's not emptiness; it's a space for the subject to breathe.

In this sense, his paintings can be seen as a peaceful hymn about human existence and identity. He doesn't shout or protest. He expresses his views with calm, depth, and humanity. He appears to be searching for a balance between coexistence, companionship, and spontaneity, a fundamental tenet of Indian philosophy. Maruti Shelke's art seeks simplicity, peace, and equality in human life, rather than over-dramatization. His works remind us that if we learn to see beyond physical differences, we can create a better and more balanced society.

Ramesh Anand: A Lifelong Journey Through Form and Essence by Dr. Ved Prakash Bhardwaj

 

Ramesh Anand (1950-2025), an active artist since 1975 from Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, has devoted his life to continuously exploring new paths of expression in both painting and drawing. A lifelong learner, he is known for moving effortlessly between figurative and abstract modes, often working in both simultaneously. His artistic journey is marked by constant evolution and a deep desire to explore human relationships, nature, and the essence of life.

In the early years of his career during the 1970s, Anand focused on figurative art, portraying the intricate bond between humans and nature. His works featured human figures and monuments, reflecting his belief that architectural structures gained vitality through human presence. Over time, however, he came to realize that even in their emptiness, these monuments held a life of their own. This insight drew him toward exploring the stillness, presence, and inner essence of architectural forms.

As his practice developed, Anand began to feel limited by figurative art, sensing that it did not give him the freedom to fully engage with the complexities of life. This recognition led him toward abstraction, which opened a new realm of possibilities. His abstract works embrace minimal forms inspired by early fascinations with basic shapes as well as a lifelong love of monuments, mountains, rivers, and trees. Through the interplay of overlapping colors and the balance of light and dark, his paintings create depth and shifting perspectives that mirror life’s movement between clarity and obscurity.

Anand’s abstract process often begins with small architectural elements that he enlarges on canvas, merging opacity and transparency to create a monumental yet ethereal quality. His technique, though seemingly simple, uses layered tones and colors to achieve dramatic visual effects—evoking both solidity and fluidity.

Alongside his paintings, Anand’s drawings occupy a special place in his oeuvre. They combine traditional and modern sensibilities, drawing from miniature and folk art while transforming these influences into a contemporary visual language. His imagery may appear simple, but his mastery of composition and space—shaped by his study of miniature techniques—gives the drawings remarkable presence. By blending traditional motifs with modern composition, Anand has forged a distinctive style that bridges past and present, imbuing his work with both historical depth and contemporary vitality.

Whether figurative or abstract, whether rendered in ink on paper or paint on canvas, Ramesh Anand’s art is a meditation on life’s complexities. His ability to continually reinvent his practice while remaining grounded in both tradition and modernity marks him as a significant figure in contemporary Indian art. Through his sensitive exploration of form, color, and space, he creates works that invite viewers to reflect on the layered nature of life and the ways in which stillness and movement coexist in the world around us.