The Art by Dr Ved Prakash Bhardwaj - HTML preview

The Art

turned his attention to the realities of everyday in remarkably varied ways. He possessed an

life. Instead of relying on mythological narratives intense desire to observe, draw, and paint the

and literary themes, he chose subjects drawn

vibrant world around him. Equally important, he

from the world around him—subjects that were

encouraged his students to engage imaginatively

immediate, authentic, and deeply

with the life and objects in their

human. He worked in a wide variety

immediate surroundings and to

of media, including oil, watercolour,

explore them through diverse

ink, crayon, and pencil.

artistic approaches.

One of the most distinctive

Although his oeuvre is

features of Abani Sen’s work is

especially celebrated for its

his portrayal of animals and birds.

depictions of animals and birds, it

Throughout his life, he created

also includes a substantial body of

hundreds of paintings and drawings

work devoted to human life in its

of horses, monkeys, dogs, and

many dimensions. A look at the

numerous other animals and birds,

global artistic climate of the 1960s

yet each work offers a unique

reveals a growing interest, in India

perspective. In these depictions,

as elsewhere, in the depiction

he sought to capture not only

of the nude figure and sexual

their physical postures but also

relationships. This tendency found

their expressions, temperaments,

expression in both literature and

and inner vitality. His command

the visual arts. While this theme

of different media enabled him

appears in some of Abani Sen’s

to reinterpret the same subject

works, the majority of his paintings

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