Art beyond canvas - why they painted what they painted Saikat Baksi

A poor young artist from a village of Bengal remained in close contact with Jamini Roy for almost two decades. His name was Basanta Jana. Jamini Roy kept most of his paintings. Both had almost identical style. But Basanta Jana's paintings almost vanished from record! What really happened?

Jamini Roy is one of the most famous artist even this day in Indian world of modern art. But did he paint anything new? Did he set a new movement in motion? What prompted him to paint in the folk style? Was it his deep concern for the neglected and dying art form of the Santhal Tribes or Kalighat Patuas or a pure quest for a winning strategy for the market?

Rabindranath Tagore began to paint at the age of 67. Long after he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Until then he did not paint beyond the doodles on his manuscripts. But when he painted, he demolished every rule and convention in place. His paintings opened a radically new horizon in Indian art. But there were mysterious elements in his color palette. This episode talks about the mystery behind the legend's artistic creations.

Gaganendranath Tagore, nephew of the legendary poet, Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, was a great artist. In some section of art lovers in India, he is taken for a cubist. But did he indulge in cubism? Why do we know him? Is it only because of his wonderful paintings and cartoons or there was some other aspect too?

Abanindranath Tagore, the nephew of the legendary poet Rabindranath Tagore, brought in a radical change in the style of art in the early twentieth century India. Even if in today's context, his paintings appear to be old fashioned and less appealing, his turning away from the western perspective driven art was a shocking creative rebellion at that time. This episode talks about the Bengal School of art that shaped the form of Indian Art for ever.

After the death of Raja Ravi Varma, entered the Bengal School. But Bengal School did not celebrate the art of the British. It fell back on the Mughal Art. Bengal school came up with an original art form of India. But what prompted the flag bearers of Bengal school to revolt against the colonial art forms? What made them the rebels of art? What made the legendary Tagore family the breeding ground of revolutionary world views?