When he was at the Bishop School in Pune, followed by St Vincent’s High School, Bharat Tripathi — former commissioner, Income Tax, Mumbai — had won many awards for art. Yet, after leaving school, as academics and professional committments began to dominate his life, Tripathi did not touch the paintbrush for 20 long years.
“In this period, I was posted in Mumbai, where the art scene is bustling and I was a regular at exhibitions. To paint, however, did not occur to me,” said Tripathi.
That the former civil services officer has come full circle is evident in his return to Pune, the city where he grew up, as an artist. From July 25 to 28, Tripathi will exhibit some of his artwork from his five solo shows at the Raja Ravi Varma Gallery. A lot of the credit for Tripathi reclaiming his lost muse for art goes to one of the foremost names in Indian art, SH Raza.
The turnaround
S H Raza was also one of the founders of the Progressive Artists’ Group (PAG) with KH Ara, F N Souza and M F Husain. Established in 1947, PAG was intent on giving the newly independent nation an avant-garde artistic language. Raza was also ready to hand hold other struggling artists and something must have struck him about Tripathi.
“I met Raza in an exhibition and later at his residence in Paris and we got talking. I mentioned that I used to paint in school and he asked me why I didn’t paint any more. I told him that I have no formal training and don’t know how to paint,” said Tripathi.
Unlike most legendary artists who would not like a stranger in their studio, Raza asked Tripathi to visit him and just be with him while he painted. “He said, ‘You don’t need to be trained. Just pick up the canvas and paint’. He was very inspiring,” said Tripathi.
For as long as he lived, Raza was Tripathi’s mentor, guiding him as the latter dealt with a crisis in his life by losing himself in art. At present he is under the tutelage of another eminent artist, Anjolie Ela Menon.
Tripathi’s first exhibition, in 2009 at the Hacienda Art Gallery in Mumbai, was Nav Durga, which was inaugurated by none other than Raza himself who encouraged him to show his works to the world. Nav Durga was based on nine shlokas of the Durga Saptasadi that were a part of the Durga Puja celebrations at Tripathi’s home since his childhood.
Mythical Journeys
As Tripathi plunged into art full-time, his subjects began to unfold in quiet succession. Nav Durga led to Dashavatar, the 10 incarnations of Lord Vishnu, and that made him curious about Shiva. After extensive research, Tripathi presented his collection “The Story of Shiva” at the Coomaraswamy Hall at the Prince of Wales Museum in Mumbai in 2012.
“When I was exhibiting Dashavatar, a group of about 40 girls, who were students of Jainism, came to the gallery. I can understand Gujarati so while taking them around, I heard them talk among themselves that there was a lack of such paintings about Jain tirthankars,” said Tripathi. This planted a seed in his mind for his next solo show.
Three years later, in 2014, Tripathi exhibited a powerful collection of works, The Tirthankars, at Jehangir Art Gallery.
“There are 24 Tirthankars but, if one visits a Jain temple, the statue of the deity looks the same. Each Tirthankar is identified by a Lanchan, which is an animal that the mother dreamt of before birth and the tree where enlightenment was attained. While the image of the Tirthankars is the same in all the 24 paintings, I have tried to create distinctions by enhancing the above elements in each work,” said Tripathi.
His last show was the Ramayan told through 12 canvases. It was at the Lalit Jala Akademi in 2015. Tripathi has another exhibition planned for Mumbai later this year.
“I am intrigued by mythology, and concerned that few people, today, know of the rich traditions behind these stories. What I heard as bed time stories from my mother or my grandmother gave me a different perspective much later in life. Every mythological story has a message which is very relevant in present times irrespective of religion but unfortunately are getting lost,” he said.
His art exhibition in Pune is not only a homecoming. It is planned as a grand celebration of the arts and will feature a classical violin performance by Rama Chobhe on July 25, storytelling by Chetan Shetty on July 26 and a classical vocal performance by Urvashi Shah on July 27.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
First uploaded on: 22-07-2024 at 23:14 IST
