The Calcutta Group was one of the most controversial groups of artists to have existed since the emergence of Modern Indian Painting. Although the group’s existence was short, the influence that it had on contemporary Indian art was simply phenomenal. It was a critical catalyst in the transformation of Indian art and brought it international recognition.
Background
In the early 1940s India, when the country was going through wars, famines, revolts, and massacres, which was soon followed by the partition of the country and the tragedies that happened during the event, some artists believed that art shouldn’t be divorced from reality and merely turn into an escape that focused on the aesthetics.
Holding these common beliefs, the Calcutta group was formed based on the grand idea of these artists to represent the socio-political realities of the contemporary world through their artworks.
Origin
After studying art at the Government College of Art and Craft, Subho Tagore, the artist with the blood of his uncle Abhindranath Tagore and grand-uncle Rabindranath Tagore running through his veins, traveled to London and hones his artistic skills and sensibilities. When he came back to India, he brought with him an idea to create a distinct group solely for plastic artists.
The Calcutta Group was thus created by him and his fellow painters Rathin Maitra, Nirode Mazumdar, Gopal Ghosh, and Prankrishna Pal in 1943. Later, the group was joined by the painter, Paritosh Sen, and sculptors, Pradosh Das Gupta and Kamala Das Gupta. These eight formed the core of the Calcutta group as it continued to expand until dissolving in 1953 after facing backlash.
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The Artistic Scandal
Since some of the members of the Calcutta group were sympathetic towards the cause of the communist party and were even militants themselves, communist ideas were very influential among the group. These ideals revolved around two major aspects: One was to renounce all forms of religion and religious expression in art while the other was to modernize Indian art by creating more opportunities for its development.
This meant that the group attempted to subvert the contrasting ideas of demagoguery and elitism at the same time and create artworks that were meant for everyone regardless of class, caste, and gender. However, their atheistic tendency and their utter dismissal of the artworks revolving around Hindu mythology led to a lot of controversies as the group earned the moniker of an ‘Artistic Scandal’.