Chittaprosad Bhattacharya (1915 - 1978)

Good overall condition. Pin hole in the upper left corner.
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Cartoonist and satirist Chittaprosad Bhattacharya was one of India's most recognized political artists of the mid-20th century. A watercolorist and printmaker, he was an active member of the Communist Party of India from the mid-1930s through the post-Independence era and remained close to an anti-Imperialist, humanitarian agenda until his death.

Chittaprosad's left-leaning political views were crystallized during his student years in the 1930s. He was a strident critic of feudal and colonial oppression and voiced his ideas through articles, cartoons and illustrations, many of which were impounded by the authorities. Rejecting the classicism of the Bengal School, Chittaprosad instead adopted a bold and incisive realist figural style with exaggerated anatomical features to convey his point.

Chittaprosad's experience of the horrific man-made Bengal Famine of 1943 left him with a deep-seated distrust of the political and ruling classes. The wanton exploitation of the famine-struck masses made him committed to the cause of awakening public consciousness against the deceit and chicanery of the elite and powerful class.

The present image depicts hapless protestors demanding their basic rights of 'food, cloth, house' (roti, kapda, makan) an oft-repeated and often empty election promise, literally being steamrolled by the establishment represented by a corpulent businessman and his imperialist supporter, while a public official silences them by wielding the metaphorical  Public Safety Bill axe, designed to stifle protest. Painted with ease, power and conviction the work expresses revolt in the face of political oppression in no uncertain terms.