Jagdish Swaminathan

Acquired from Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi by a diplomat with the Swiss Embassy, circa 1984-1985

Thence by descent

in good condition, colours brighter in reality, as viewed
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During the 1960s, Jagdish Swaminathan left his career in journalism in order to pursue painting. In 1962, he founded Group 1890, an artist collective whose ideology was to reject ‘vulgar naturalism’, the pastoral ideal of the Bengal school, and the ‘hybrid mannerism’ of European art. Group 1890 urged artists to interpret the natural world in symbolic and abstracted forms. Swaminathan argued that traditional Indian painting was at odds with that of Western painting. He believed that Indian paintings were not meant to represent reality in a naturalistic, objective manner. As Amrita Jhaveri explains, “Swaminathan’s artistic ambition was to establish a continuum between folk, tribal, and urban contemporary art. Questioning the notion that Modernism developed from an encounter with the West, he sought to redefine contemporary practice by taking into account the philosophical underpinnings of Indian Art. A truly Indian Art could only develop, he felt, by overcoming the divide between art and craft (A. Jhaveri, A Guide to 101 Modern and Contemporary Indian Artists, India Book House Pvt Ltd., Mumbai, 2005, p.93)

Swaminathan’s pursuit of alternative pictorial depictions allowed colour and space to become essential forces in his work. As seen in this painting from his Bird, Tree, Mountain series, Swaminathan divides his canvas into bright colour fields, interspersing mountains, and birds as a map for viewers to see the world and to uncover unrealised potential.The bird whose shadow is also cast on the mountain becomes a symbol of infinite space, while the delicately rendered tree and textural mountains become symbols of ascent and eternity. The richly saturated palette of the present work demonstrates Swaminathan interest in Pahari and Basholi miniatures, placing his work as a unique re-interpretation of traditional Indian art.