The Art by Dr Ved Prakash Bhardwaj - HTML preview

The Art

J.J. School of Art in Mumbai. The structure of

However, it is important to note that although her education there was entirely British, but through technique may reflect Western influence, the soul exhibitions she saw outside the school, she of her work remains Indian.

became acquainted with authentic Indian art.

This is why, when she seeks to connect

It was there that she first saw the works of M.F.

her art with Indian identity, she incorporates

Husain and Mohan Samant, both of whom, she

not only Indian themes but also elements of

openly admits, greatly influenced her. According calendar art, which she considers entirely Indian to her, at one point, Husain’s bold black lines and contemporary. She expresses concern that

and flat surfaces influenced her so much that

whenever we talk about indigenous art, we tend

she began to follow them—though her themes

to look only to the past—Ajanta or miniature

remained different. She had to leave Sir J.J.

painting—while ignoring the art around us, such as School after just six months.

calendar art or the paintings on rickshaws, buses, At the age of eighteen, the paintings she

and trucks. She paid attention to these forms and created had a strong sense of romanticism, partly incorporated their elements into her work, giving due to the influence of Amrita Sher-Gil, which she them new and contemporary meanings.

herself acknowledges. In her first exhibition, she At the age of twenty, Menon went to Paris

displayed 53 paintings in various styles. However, for further study, where she was influenced by

when she went to Paris to study art, the direction European Impressionism as well as church art

of her art changed completely. A vast new world

based on Christianity. There, she established a

of ideas and perspectives opened before her. It is dialogue with Western art. After returning, her

often said that her work is heavily influenced by artistic identity reflected Western techniques

Western art. This is true to some extent, as her real combined with Indian themes. Much later, she

artistic journey began after her studies in Paris.

again turned toward the West, going to Murano,

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