The Art by Dr Ved Prakash Bhardwaj - HTML preview

The Art

Meera Mukherjee

In the history of modern Indian art, few artists have transformed tradition as powerfully

and authentically as Meera Mukherjee. At a

time when sculpture was considered a masculine

domain and modern art was heavily influenced

by Western aesthetics, Meera forged an artistic

language that was deeply Indian, socially

rooted, and technically innovative. Her work

not only reshaped modern Indian sculpture but

also challenged social conventions surrounding

gender, craft, and artistic hierarchy.

The birth centenary celebrations of Meera

Mukherjee have renewed interest in an artist

whose legacy continues to inspire generations.

An exhibition showcasing her bronze sculptures

alongside works in terracotta, wood, marble,

ceramics, and drawings demonstrates the

“I belonged to a country which also extraordinary range of her creative practice.

had a great tradition of its own…

Although widely celebrated as a sculptor, Meera

was also a painter; writer, researcher, teacher, though I was at the moment living, and activist who believed that art must remain learning and growing in the West, connected to people and lived experience.

Born with a passion for art, Meera joined

I should still find my own way to

the Indian Society of Oriental Art at the age of myself, rooted in the great Indian

fourteen. However, like many women of her

time, her artistic aspirations were interrupted by tradition.”

marriage and domestic responsibilities. Yet the

— Meera Mukherjee

monotony of conventional life could not suppress 71