history of art

Chittaprosad Bhattacharya

Chittaprosad Long Profile Born in 1915 in Naihati, Bengal, Chittaprosad was a self-taught artist and an active participant of the Communist Party of India. His art inspirations were drawn from the village sculptors, artisans and puppet-players. In 1943-44 Chittoprasad’s firsthand experience of the Bengal Famine disaster resulted in his sensitive depiction of human suffering in pen and ink sketches. The experience of the disaster culminated in the Hungry Bengal, an eyewitness report comprising of written text and profuse sketches in stark black-and-white. The sketches in Hungry Bengal operated from a linguistic code of abbreviated realism; Chittaprosad nevertheless guided his pen and brush to pick out the essentials of the emaciated form caught in swift strokes that terminated in brisk turns and sharp jabs. However, detail and precision of different kind would be found in Chittaprosad’s propaganda posters for the party. His drawings were published in the Communist Party journals like ‘Peoples War’ and ‘Janayudha’. Reports based on his travels and expeditions were also published in English as a pamphlet titled ‘Hungry Bengal’, by the Peoples Publishing House, Bombay. Powerful and emotive, his art of caricature emerged as a statement in favour of the oppressed masses and as a denunciation of the ruling class. As a self-conscious reflective testimony, the drawings and caricatures of this period were a forceful outcry against tyranny of domination and an indictment of the prevailing conditions. Underlying the biting humour lay a compassionate humanism and his images were essentially an appeal on behalf of the labouring poor and the marginalised. Apart from his body of works representing human suffering, proletariat and marginalized class, Chittaprosad has done several land and city-scapes, portraits and female figure and nudes with a great artistic control contrasting his previous works as political propaganda artist. Chittaprosad first exhibited in Prague’s National Gallery and was heralded a master by the international artist community. In 1969, the Danish UNICEF Committee published a collection of his lino-cuts as ‘Angles Without Fairy Tales’, dedicated to the Inter Conference in Defense of Children. He also donated his ‘Neglected Child Hood’ series of paintings to the UNICEF Committee of Denmark. Chittaprosad was also a story-teller and poet. He illustrated ‘Indian Fables and Fairy Tales’, and ‘With Puppets to Calcutta’ by the Czech writer Norbert Fryd. In 1978, an Art Archive based on his works and belongings was established in Kolkata. In the same year he returned to Calcutta following an illness and it was here that he took his last breath. Short Profile Born in 1915 in Naihati ,Bengal, Chittaprosad was a self-taught artist and an active participant of Communist Party of India. He drew inspirations from the village sculptors / artisans and puppet-players. In 1943, 44 Chittoprasad’s firsthand experience of the Bengal Famine disaster resulted in his brutally honest depiction of human suffering in stark drawings and sketches made in pen and ink. The experience of the disaster culminated in the Hungry Bengal, an eyewitness report comprising of written text and profuse sketches in stark black-and-white. Apart from his body of works representing human suffering, proletariat and marginalized class, Chittaprosad has done several land and city-scapes, portraits and female figure and nudes with a great artistic control contrasting his previous works as political propaganda artist. Chittaprosad first exhibited in Prague’s National Gallery and was heralded a master by the international artist community. Chittaprosad was also a story-teller and a poet. He illustrated ‘Indian Fables and Fairy Tales’, and ‘With Puppets to Calcutta’ by the Czech writer Norbert Fryd. In 1978, an Art Archive based on his works and belongings was established in Kolkata. In the same year he returned to Calcutta following an illness and it was here that he took his last breath.

Exhibitions

Posthumous
2010	Manifestations IV	Delhi Art Gallery	New Delhi	Delhi Art Gallery
2007	STILL LIFE - Adaptation in 20th century Indian Art	Delhi Art Gallery	New Delhi
2006	THE NAKED LINE - Drawings by 12 Artists	Delhi Art Gallery	New Delhi
2005	Manifestations III	Delhi Art Gallery	New Delhi
2005	Manifestations III	Nehru Centre	Mumbai	Delhi Art Gallery
2005	Manifestations III	Lalit Kala Akademi	New Delhi	Delhi Art Gallery
2004	Manifestations II	Jehangir Art Gallery	Mumbai	Delhi Art Gallery
2004	Manifestations II	Delhi Art Gallery	New Delhi
2003	Manifestations	Delhi Art Gallery	New Delhi
2003	POETRY AND PATRIOTIC FERVOUR - An Exhibition of Indian Art Pre Independence	Delhi Art Gallery	New Delhi
2001	CHANGING IMAGES - An Exhibition of 20th Century Indian Art	Delhi Art Gallery	New Delhi
2000	FACE OFF - An Exhibition of Indian Old Maters and Moderns	Delhi Art Gallery	New Delhi
1995	Exhibition of Drawings, Linocuts and Woodcuts	Gallery Romain Rolland	New Delhi	Alliance Francaise
1992	Exhibition dedicated to Anniversary of his Birthday	Chitrakoot Art Gallery	Calcuta	Chitta Bharati
1992	Exhibition dedicated to Anniversary of his Birthday	Centre Art Gallery	Calcuta	Chitta Bharati
1992	Exhibition to mark 14th Death Anniversary	Alliance Francaise	Calcuta
1980	Exhibition of his works acquired by Pragues National Gallery since 1956	Calcutta Information Centre	Calcuta	Chitta Bharati
1979	Exhibition of his works acquired by Pragues National Gallery since 1956	Fronta Gallery		National Gallery-Prague

Awards and Achievements
1992	Chitta Bharati Organization was established in his				Calcuta
1978	Felicitation Programme	Shilpayan Mime Academy			Calcuta
1978	Chittaprosad Art Archive, an institute of research				Calcuta
1950	Founder	Khela Ghar			Calcuta
Collections
Delhi Art Gallery		New Delhi		India
Ebrahim Alkazi and Art Heritage		New Delhi		India
Goodricke Group Limited		Calcuta		India
Goodricke Group Limited		London		UK
Jane and Kito de Boer		Dubai		UAE
National Gallery of Modern Art		New Delhi		India
Osians Archive and Library		New Delhi		India
Prague Museum of Art

Profile
Summary Bio

Chittaprosad Bhattacharya

Born
1915 - 1978

Education

· 1960s Learnt the Techniques of Czech puppetry from Mr. Frantisek Salaba. A Czech Amateur Puppeteer who lived in Mumbai

· 1932-36 Chittagong Government College, Bangladesh

· Self-taught Artist with no Academic Training in Art and inspired by the Village Sculptors and Puppet-players

Exhibitions
Selected Posthumous Exhibitions

· 2011 ‘Manifestations V', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

· 2010 'Manifestations IV', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi

· 2005 'Manifestations III', organized by Delhi Art Gallery, Mumbai & New Delhi

· 2004 'Manifestations II', organized by Delhi Art Gallery, Mumbai & New Delhi

· 1995 'Exhibition of Drawings, Linocuts & Woodcuts', organized by Alliance Francaise-Delhi, Gallery Romain Rolland, New Delhi

· 1992 'Chitta Bharati', to celebrate his birthday, Centre Art Gallery & Chitrakoot Art Gallery, Kolkata

· 1992 Exhibition to mark 14th Death Anniversary, Alliance Francaise, Kolkata

· 1981 Largest Exhibition which featured his Works acquired by Prague's National Gallery since 1956

· 1980 'Retrospective', Czechoslovakia and Kolkata Information Centre. organized by Chittaprosad Art Archive, Chitta Bharati, Kolkata & The Depertment of Information and Cultural Affairs, Government of West Bengal

· 1979 Fronta Gallery, Prague, organized by National Gallery, Prague, the Czechoslovak-Indian Section of the Czechoslovak Society for Foreign Relations & Publishing House-Mlada Fronta
Selected Exhibitions

· 1956 Prague, Czechoslovakia and Other important exhibitions in Denmark, Holland, Germany, Copenhagen, USA

Honours and Awards

· 1992 Chitta Bharati was organized in his honour

· 1979 Pavel Hoble of Czechoslovakia, made a documentary film on him called 'Confession', it was awarded a special prize by The World Peace Council

· 1978 Chittaprosad Art Archive was established, Kolkata

· 1978 Felicitated by Shilpayan, Mime Academy, Kolkata

· 1950 Rejuvenated traditional puppet theatre by founding his own Khela Ghar

· 1946 He worked for the Left Press, Mumbai. He did works depicting the Telangana Peasants armed struggle against the Nizam's tyrannical regime in Hyderabad

· 1943 44 Drawings of Bengal Famine was widely admired

· Active member of the Communist Party of India till 1947