Hungry Bengal

Artist Somnath Hore’s canvases show that images from the Bengal famine of 1943 remained forever etched in his mind. Some of these works are currently on display at an exhibition organised by Arushi Arts at The Gallery on MG Road . “When the famine hit Bengal ,the miseries nudged Somnath Hore to paint the agony on posters. Taking his first lesson in art with artist Chittaprosad Bhattacharya,he drew starving victims,” reveals Payal Kapoor,director,Arushi Arts.

Even in later years,the toiling masses continued to act as his protagonists. Now,more than three years after Hore’s death,Arushi Arts has brought together a collection of his work that include etchings from the 1970s and drawings from the 1980s. “The collection was purchased from his family two years ago,” says Kapoor about the exhibition that began on Saturday.

There are more than 40 works,priced upward Rs 2 lakh. In one work,a famine victim throws up his arms in despair while in a paperwork,a skeletal figure leans against the wall. The red backdrop in his untitled watercolours represents the agony of the dispossessed people.

The exhibition at The Gallery,MG Road ,is on till March 18. Contact: 26814984