Kingdom,Not Just of Rasagolla

Chittaprosad’s family,however,managed to hide one copy — which is now in the possession of the Delhi Art Gallery (DAG). The Gallery has now published Hungry Bengal as part of a five-book set to celebrate Chittaprosad’s works. “Not much is known about Chittaprosad and this is our way of giving people a chance to see art,” says Ashish Anand,director of DAG,as he sifts through his

collection of over 600 of Chittaprosad’s artwork,around 150 of which will be displayed at his Hauz Khas gallery for a month.

While one wall in the gallery is covered with a poster with the chronological biography of Chittaprosad,befittingly the display begins with his work of the Bengal famine. Trudging on foot through villages,the Naihati-born artist sketched emaciated people and living skeletons with thick brush-strokes. The works on display show “animals feasting on half-devoured corpses,a shrivelled up old woman,sitting under a dead banyan tree and a woman who turned to prostitution for survival”. The visual reportage turns satirical in the set of posters with caricatures that represent the oppressors as larger-than-life.

There are other sections that come across almost unlike Chittaprosad. When experimenting with the colour palette,his techniques and idioms range from the romantic Bengal school to cubism. There are unpretentious landscapes,impressionist riverside view and flowers arranged orderly in vases. In another room,his puppets are suspended on the walls alongside illustrated stories for children. A linocut print titled Peasant Boy has a shepherd boy riding on a buffalo,playing his flute,in The Kingdom of Rasagolla the artist has a pot-bellied Brahmin dancing with sweets and he depicts the world underwater in a narration of The Little Mermaid.

“Chittaprosad only had two solos during his lifetime,” points out the editor of the publication,Kishore Singh. He flips though the publications that chronicle the life and times of the artist,apart from his art. There are images of the artist with his family,letters and postcards exchanged with friends,an undated cheque and the condolence letter issued by CPI General Secretary,Rajeswara Rao,on the his death. That the text comes from Dr Sanjoy Kumar Mallik,a senior lecturer at Santiniketan,almost seems ironical — for that was the institution that had once denied admission to the artist.

The exhibition will be held from July 11-August 20 at DAG,Hauz Khas. Contact: 46005300