International studio (47.1912)

Studio-Talk


“ EARTH ”

FROM A FRESCO PAINTING BY K. VENKATAPPA

new school many of the
critics found traces of
Japanese and European in-
fluence, but later examples
in their strength and origi-
nality of conception can
claim a place beside the best
Japanese or European work
and open up a field of
aesthetic experience of a
quite novel character. The
inclusion of copies of the
Ajanta frescoes and some
very beautiful old miniatures
of the pseudo - Mughal
schools was a very happy
idea on the part of the
organisers of the exhibition,
and afforded a standard of

Gangoly, the last of whom has joined the majority.
The task which this little group of artists set before
them was to demonstrate the possibilities of the
traditions of the ancient art of India. The raison
d'etre of the school was, or rather is, a protest
against officialism in art as represented by the
“ School of Art ” productions in India.
In some of the earlier works by members of the

comparison for the methods and ideals of the new
school. Three large compositions, Earth, Air,
and Water, executed in the manner of the Ajanta
frescoes and originally painted for the decoration
of the Royal pandal at Calcutta during the visit of
their Majesties, were notable exhibits. The first
one was the work of K. Venkatappa, a student from
Madras, and the other two of Nanda Lal Bose and
Asit Kumar Haidar. By far the most popular


162

THE EXHIBITION OF THE INDIAN SOCIETY OF ORIENTAL ART AT SIMLA