Painter Subrata Kundu dies in penury and anonymity

“I knew him quite well when we were studying at the Government College of Art and Craft in Kolkata in the early 1980s. He began withdrawing from society two years ago. He tried to commit suicide,but the attempt was unsuccessful and he lost his legs. After that,he went off the art radar,” says Kolkata art critic Arun Ghosh.

“After he tried to commit suicide,his brother took him back to his hometown,Ranaghat,” says Dipali Bhattacharya,Associate Professor of the Painting Department at the Government College of Art and Craft. “He had built a temple for the family and it was here that he spent his last days. We used to visit him regularly with money and food,since his immediate family had abandoned him. He was suffering from a liver ailment and was advised not to drink. He fought hard to stay in line but he went back to his old ways and slipped into a coma,” says Bhattacharya.

While his family members were not available,his former wife Nupur,who was attending an art camp in Mumbai,declined to comment.

“I lost touch with him after graduation,but I remember him as a poor kid with big ambitions. He had lots of opportunities and he worked very hard,but somewhere the glamour and glitz got to him. When the market turned he was left behind,” says artist Shukla Sawant,Associate Professor of Visual Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of Arts and Aesthetics.

Kundu had his first big solo exhibition in 1988 in Delhi and held over 15 solos after that. Dinesh Vazirani of Saffron art described him as “an artist whose geometric works reflected his frustration with urban spaces and crowds”.

Delhi-based art writer Ina Puri says as Kundu faded away from the art scene,no one asked about him any more. “It was like he disappeared from the surface of the earth. Manjit (Bawa) and I knew him as a cheerful person,always bustling around. He helped us organise his teacher Ganesh Haloi’s exhibition,” says Puri.

“As a student,he made me proud. He was hardworking and was always ready to learn new things. When he shifted to Delhi,he underwent a lot of hardship,but also achieved a lot of success,” Haloi remembers in Kolkata.

Puri adds: “Over a period of time I saw the way he just let go and surrendered. It was a sad thing to see. Subrata was losing his grip on his art and his life.”