Bhupen Khakar : A renowned Artist of India

28 Oct Bhupen Khakar : A renowned Artist of India

(GS Paper I : History and culture )

Context : 

A London Based  multinational Art company Sotheby declared that A art work of the Indian Artist  Bhupen Khakhar titled Krishna Hotel was auctioned for 12. 7 crores . In fact the objective of this auction was to raise the funds for the Bangladeshi refugees who are residing in Ahmedabad . 

An Introduction about the Artwork of the Bhupen Khakkar :

• The art work entitled Krishna Hotel was auctioned in London by 26th Oct and it attracted thousands of art lovers of London . 

• In this painting few people are chatting over tea and snacks at what appears to be a neighbourhood restaurant. This work of Bhupen was still unpublished in public . But by Monday (26th Oct 2021) when it was auctioned it was the third highest price for the artist and six times the pre-auction estimate.

• this particular painting has immense importance as it marks the beginning of Bhupen’s “Tradesmen Series” of paintings, 

Works/ Paintings of the Bhupen

• Salman rushdi also  portrayed the image of Bhupen as as an accountant in his noble The Moor’s Last Sigh (1995). 

• Head; Couple (1983) , Birth of Water (1983), HANUMAN (1960) , Trees, Man with a Monkey (1995), The Red Colour & Grills Spilled over his Face (2000) , TWO PRINTS – THE UNFINISHED DREAM; RED RAIN (1981), IN THE COCONUT GROVES (1993), His Last Days of Aids – He Remembered his friend (1998), TWO ARMCHAIRS, TIGER AND STAG (1970) and PREPARATORY STUDY FOR THE CELEBRATION OF GURU JAYANTI (1980) are one of the few and best art work 

About Bhupen Khakar

• Bhupen kHakar was well known Indian painter whose paintings are attracting the attention of the art lovers in these days in london 

• Bhupen was born in Mumbai, Maharashtra in 1934. 

• Hw was not also expert in making painting only on the paper and cloths but also he painted our glasses , ceramics also 

• By profession he was a chartered accountant . painting was his hobby but he became famous internationally because of his artwork 

• He was influenced by the great artist Ghulam Mohammad Sekh , a renowned painter, poet and critic of Gujrat .

• He worked as the faculty in the department of fine art in Vadodara university 

• Gradually Khakkar became the core figure in the Baroda School

• Khakar invented his own technique and style of the painting and he used vibrant oil, gouache or watercolour and containing imaginative and deeply personal references.

• Khakhar has often been linked to the Pop Art movement and parallels have been drawn with the work of David Hockney

• In the Khakhar painting we see the features of Indian miniatures and henry Rousseau 

• He was graduated from the university of Bombay where he did his graduation in Economic therefore he worked as accountant also 

• The artist’s homosexuality was prominent feature in much of his work, and was often tinged with the melancholy of living in a country in which that lifestyle was condemned.

• Today, his works are held in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, and the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, among others

Nowadays Khakhar is one the most popular Indian artist / painters whose paintings are being sold in crores of rupees . Definitely his artworks should also be appreciated in India also 

plutus ias daily current affairs 28 Oct 2021

Dr. Anshul Bajpai

Plutus IAS Current Affairs Team Member