While modernism flowed into the Assam art in the Thirties through the efforts of Muktanath Bordoloi, Suren Bordoloi, Jagat Singh Kachari and Pratap Baruah, a long period following it, which extended up to the late 1940s, was by and large lacklustre and uneventful if not entirely stagnant. During this period, many of those with an artistic bent of mind pursued art in a half-hearted manner, others could not finish their art education, and those who pursued it relatively more seriously were either not prolific enough or were restrained by myriad factors. The result was that the production of art during the 1930s and 1940s in Assam was very limited. Apart from a select few, many artists of this period did not possess the basic ingredients to take their art from the rudimentary level to a stage where their works could be considered as art in the real sense.

It is pertinent to mention here that it was a time when the Bengal school was extremely influential. Yet, this influence was not seen in the works of the Assamese pioneers. Although this influence was witnessed in some works by Pratap Baruah (and also Bishnu Rabha), Assamese artists of this period were by and large inspired by Renaissance art. At the same time, they had little idea about the movements taking place in Europe. Secondly, the 1930s was also the time when Raja Ravi Varma, the three Tagores, Jamini Rai, Nandalal Bose and Amrita Sher-Gil brought modernism into India and sustained it powerfully. By 1943, Calcutta Group was founded by Paritosh Sen, Prodosh Das Gupta, Gopal Ghose, etc and this in turn inspired FN Souza, MF Husain, SH Raza, KH Ara, HA Gade and SK Bakre – to found the Bombay Progressive Artists Group. These groups took modernism in Indian art much forward. Back home, around that time, modernism in Assam was moving at a snail’s pace. The Assamese artists perhaps attempted to create a new synthesis with local themes and the British academic tradition they were imbued with. The rural, social life of Assam and its natural beauty were the most common subjects. Religious and historical subjects were also tried.

Assam art gained momentum in the 1940s and early 1950s with the emergence of a few artists having a good blend of skills, talent, poetic sensibility, power of imagination, and above all a passion and willingness to pursue art. The most prominent among them were Tarun Duvarah, Hemanta Misra, Asudev, Jugal Das and Jibeswar Baruah. These were the ones who started looking at things differently and helped art ameliorate in a proper way in Assam.

Duvarah was a multifaceted genius who not only excelled in art but was also an ace dancer and actor. Among many of his works, the Asomiya Sipini (oil) done by him in the 1950s, which presented a local subject-matter beautifully, was widely acclaimed as a successful work of art. It may be recalled here that ‘Asomiya Sipini’ as a subject-matter was started in Assam for the first time by Pratap Baruah. Duvarah was blessed with superb drawing and painting skills. He emerged in the late 1940s and was artistically active till the 1960s. During this period he produced a large number of works that spoke of his inner vision, poetic sensibility, skills and depth of imagination. He was probably the first Assamese artist who showed some prolificacy.

The paintings of Asudev and Hemanta Misra, for the first time in the history of Assam, put an end to the influence of Renaissance art and ushered in modernism in a significant way. The influence of modern movements that had taken place in the West in the early 20th century was prominent in their works. Asudev was probably the first painter in Assam whose works displayed the spirit of modernism in a brilliant form. Obviously he was influenced by the Pointillists so far the application of colours goes, though Asudev’s mini-strokes were much thicker. Behind the Seurat-like exterior, however, were local themes. Asudev, who died in 1983, is credited with creating a discernible shift in the aesthetic appreciation in Assam.

The concept of modernism appeared in a more creative way in Misra’s paintings. At different stages, his works showed the influence of various Western movements, but the touch of originality was present in all of them. By 1960, Misra deviated from Cubist Expressionism and began to explore the realm of Surrealism. Misra’s works do remind us of Dali. His taking recourse to the Surrealist style was, however, necessitated more by an urge to give pictorial form to the images and feelings emanating from his own subconscious, and that is what made his works original.

Duvarah, Asudev and Misra thus gave modernism a proper direction in Assam and effected a change in attitude to art in the State. We must not forget the contributions of Jugal Das, who improvised on what he had learnt from his guru Indreswar Borthakur and tried to bring in modernism in sculpture-making in Assam. Jibeswar Baruah’s contributions too were no less significant; specially because it was due to his efforts that an art school came into being in Guwahati in the eventful year of 1947.

– d.bezbarua@yahoo.co.in

Debashish Bezbaruah