A Brief History of Printmaking in India

K. G. Subramanyan (1924–2016) 22 Best Bakery, 2004 Gouache on handmade paper 30 × 22 in

Born into a family of Tamil Brahmins in Kerala, K. G. Subramanyan began his education in economics before discovering his passion for art and enrolling at Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan, where his vision was shaped by pioneers such as Nandalal Bose and Ramkinkar Baij. In 1951, he joined the faculty of Fine Arts at M.S. University, Baroda (now Vadodara), where he served as an inspirational presence in shaping the distinctive and influential curriculum of that program, before returning to his alma mater in 1980, where he taught for nearly a decade before retiring. Often considered one of India’s most important modernist pioneers, Subramanyan is well known for his irreverence, and for his deep investment in Indian mythology and folk traditions. Subramanyan fused his extensive knowledge of craft traditions with international modernism into a masterful integration of the classical, popular, and modern visual languages. Many of his works were politically engaged, addressing specific moments of conflict through sculpture and painting. He approached tragedies with a sense of irony, emphasizing the corruptness of political, social, and religious affairs throughout India. Best Bakery directly references a significant moment of Hindu-Muslim conflict, known as the Best Bakery incident, during the 2002 riots in Gujarat, India. On March 1 of that year, a Muslim-owned bakery was ransacked, attacked, and set ablaze by a mob, resulting in the deaths of 14 people: 11 Muslims and 3 Hindu employees. Subramanyan’s use of color and compositional techniques emphasize the violent nature of this event. His use of yellow, orange, and terracotta call to mind the burning fires, and his organization of space, following the style of Bengali pattachitras, forces the figures in this painting into occupying a small rectangular area, heightening the sense of entrapment. Subramanyan’s figures suggest a deep discomfort. Their bodies are contorted, warped, and twisted, and their faces seem to wail out in agony. A broken sign that reads “BAKERY” is shown to the right of the painting, underlining its connection to the highly publicized event. As the first case connected to the Godhra riots that was tried in court, it remains a symbol of the brutality and carnage during and following the riots. In rendering the scene in this manner, Subramanyan’s concern is not to be didactic, but rather to produce a distressingly accurate and sobering representation of the pain and anguish still evoked by this horrific event. [SG]

22 | Best Bakery

Myth and Religion

Maqbool Fida Husain (1915–2011) 28a Mother (Mother Teresa), 1982 Crayon and pastel on paper 22 × 15 in

In addition to his scenes of rustic landscapes and his reflections on social policy and colonial histories, as seen earlier in catalog entries 3 and 23, Husain is well known for his engagements with India’s diverse religious traditions. In these works, M. F. Husain translates India’s composite culture and creates a new social space where diverse identities and ideas can be negotiated. The works seen here grapple with events and people that shaped history not only politically but also socially and spiritually.

Husain’s works portraying Mother Teresa reside on the hinge of myth, religion, and narrative. While there is no denying that Mother Teresa is a religious figure, Husain’s attempt at capturing visions of Mother Teresa was also driven by profoundly personal concerns. For Husain, Mother Teresa served as a symbolic surrogate for his own mother, Zaineb, who passed away when he was just two years old. While growing up, Husain was haunted by a story, told to him repeatedly, of his mother holding him tight one time when he was ill and pleading with God to take her instead of him.

Having lost his own mother at such a young age, Husain was left unable to recall her face. His decision to replace Mother Teresa’s face with a void in Mother thus speaks to this loss of memory. At the same time, it also enables her to transcend the specificity of a single woman to embody the idea of motherhood more broadly. This effort to universalize Mother Teresa is reinforced by the abstraction of the body and the dematerialization of location and context. In initially conceptualizing this series, Husain attempted realistic portraits. However, he quickly abandoned that endeavor in favor of subtle abstraction as a more potent way of revealing Mother Teresa’s spiritual dimension and maternal aura. 28b Mother Teresa Series, ca. 1990s Screen print 26 ½ × 38 ½ in

Husain’s Mother Teresa series also engages a longer iconographic tradition associated with Christianity. It references and reimagines the Pietà, replacing the Madonna with three images of Mother Teresa: the modern Madonna, depicted as a faceless figure draped with her iconic lightblue-bordered white sari. While discussing his work, Husain stated: “I have tried to capture in my paintings what her presence meant to the destitute and the dying…That is why I try it again and again, after a gap of time, in a different medium.”53 [SG]

28a | Mother (Mother Teresa)

28b | Mother Teresa Series