Printmaking in India has had an eventful journey, from being used as a means of documenting texts to a medium of artistic expression. The Printed Picture, an exhibition being held in the capital, traces the evolution of this art form
The fine art of printmaking is not what it used to be. Contemporary printmaking has taken on new meanings and metamorphosed into many forms, albeit the inherent traditionality it manifests is still intact. Elsewhere this art form is flourishing, with artists turning to new digital approaches, renovating and experimenting age-old techniques, using alternative materials and tools.
Unfortunately in India, this exciting mode of creation has had a rather stifled growth: it has not been able to reach its full bloom beleaguered by various misconceptions.
The Printed Picture: Four Centuries of Indian Printmaking, an exhibition currently on in Delhi, makes an attempt to dispel the various pre-conceived notions and false sensibilities associated with this medium, and most importantly to make people aware of the history of printmaking. This exhibition being held at the Delhi Art Gallery is an ambitious chronological narrative tracing the medium?s journey over four centuries through the works of over 150 artists. It also ?examines the myriad influences of time, regions, history, culture, as well as techniques, on the changing face of the print in India?.
?The print, in India, has had an unusual if less-than-exalted history. Artists in the West have celebrated, experimented, worked with and exploited the medium of printmaking because it is recognised as a legitimate expression of art. In India, however, it has had to grapple with the prejudice that a print is a reproduction and not an original work of art. This myth has unfortunately stood the test of time, rendering the work of artist printmakers outmoded and thus, not as valuable, say, as a painting,? says Ashish Anand, director, Delhi Art Gallery. Dr Paula Sengupta, curator of the exhibition, echoes similar views, ?The debate whether works created by printmaking is ?original? or ?reproduction? arises out of a lack of awareness and understanding of the medium. The mechanical prints (used to reproduce a painting in large numbers through a technology that is commercially viable and is neither conceived nor executed in a printmaking medium) section in this exhibition has been added precisely to aid understanding, create awareness, and instill confidence in the viewer.?
Printmaking, of course, came about with the invention of the printing press, but the earliest printmaking technique that evolved in 9th century China was woodcut. However, it attained the status of an important art form much later in the 19th century with the work of German artist Albrecht D?rer. In India, it has been a different story, with the medium emerging as a fine art form only recently. A colonial import, though printmaking arrived in the mid-16th century as a means to document and publish texts and illustrations, it was only in early 20th century that artists started taking interest in this medium to express their creativity and to propound it as a popular genre of art. Says Dr Sengupta, ?The first attempts at artistic printmaking were seen with Gaganendranath Tagore and Mukul Dey in the early 20th century. The gradual emergence of swadeshi led to the search for a new ?Indian? artistic identity. In the realm of printmaking, this identity only emerged from the 1920s onwards when Nandalal Bose assumed the reigns at Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan. It was from here that printmaking practice emanated to other parts of the country in the post-independence years.?
From William Blake?s relief-etched copper plates used to print the famous Songs of Innocence and of Experience to Andy Warhol?s Marilyn Monroe prints made using silkscreening (screenprinting), printmaking has seen paramount shifts. While Warhol in the 1960s used the screenprint technique to challenge the concept of originality, in India, our very own Raja Ravi Varma employed the printing technique to reproduce his works for wider publication (epitomised in the Indian psyche for popularising kitschy calendar pop-art).
But what makes printmaking beautiful, attracts an artist?s interest? Perhaps the experience and the engagement of the artist?s senses to his work.Therefore, it is only natural that artists ranging from Gauguin, Goya and Picasso to Edvard Munch and Robert Indiana or Henri Matisse have used printmaking to create some of their most profound and compelling works of art.
The Printed Picture has showcased some of the seminal works of India?s proponents of printmaking. With more than 400 works documented, this ambitious and expansive exhibition comprises a varied collection. ?The works range from book illustration to popular picture production to printmaking as an industrial art, to the emergence of artistic printmaking in the pre and post independence years, to its fruition in the Modernist years,? says Dr Sengupta. With works of Gaganendranath Tagore, Mukul Dey and Nandalal Bose in the early 20th century to Indian Modernism?s pioneer printmakers?Somnath Hore, Krishna Reddy, and Jagmohan Chopra?the exhibition has also included works of painters and sculptors who have made prints on occasion.
Apart from introducing viewers to this rather unknown and misunderstood form of art, this exhibition, intentionally or unintentionally, has also posed a larger question. With unbounded technical possibilities, contemporary printmaking has attained new proportions with reproducible images that are hard to distinguish from original drawings, paintings, illustrations, etc. So is printmaking dead or reborn? Can it be given the status of a category at all with many artists using, misusing whatever tools at hand?
The exhibition is on view till November 3.