Indian Icon

FOR some it8217;s the poignancy of the crucifixion, for others the enormity of His endurance. For centuries, artists have been fascinated b...

FOR some it8217;s the poignancy of the crucifixion, for others the enormity of His endurance. For centuries, artists have been fascinated by Jesus Christ, some not even for religious reasons. When the Bible made its way to India through the hands of missionaries, it wasn8217;t long before Christ figured in a Mughal miniature. With Neville Tuli8217;s upcoming Mumbai auction featuring several intriguing versions of Christ, we take a look at contemporary Indian artists and their interpretation of an ancient subject. Placing him in saffron robes or on the lap of a missionary nun in India, artists have claimed this icon as their own.

JAMINI ROY
He was seen as one of the pioneers of Modernism who switched from the 8217;60s trend of academic painting to a more indigenous style that drew heavily on the Kalighat patas scrolls. No wonder Roy8217;s depiction of Christ is not the idealised Renaissance figure but a Santhal, monumental and dignified in his stoicism. An integration of a European theme with indigenous technique, this 1964 oil on canvas is a National Art Treasure that cannot be exported.
PRICE: Approx Rs 1.75 crore

MF HUSAIN
Known to be one of the most secular of the Progressives in his approach to religious themes, Husain makes an oblique reference to Christ. With a minimal and all encompassing gesture, the artist renders the hand Christ raised while preaching. Ironically, it is also one of the most repeated dance gestures used by Indian performers, and Husain cleverly introduces Christ into the great Indian pantheon of deities. The orange in this undated oil is just incidental.
PRICE: Rs 2.5 lakh

KRISHEN KHANNA
An associate of the Bombay Progressives who were fascinated by the iconic status of Christ, Khanna was no exception. His series on Christ included Supper and Emmaus, a 1984 oil, where Khanna sprinkled his interpretation of the icon with the life of the man on the street. He set his characters in a dhaba in Delhi8217;s Nizamuddin. 8216;8216;I painted Christ as a fakir8230; it deals with the persecution of people who don8217;t fit in,8221; the artist wrote.
PRICE: Approx Rs 18,000

FN SOUZA
Goa-born Souza was surrounded by classic Christian iconography. But the rebel painted almost a hundred unconventional images of Christ. Some are so gory, they make for difficult viewing. However, in 2001, a mellower Souza painted Last Supper, where Christ is a sublime being. But the disciples8217; faces have been distorted in Souza8217;s characteristic style. 8216;8216;I attack my canvases,8217;8217; wrote the late artist.
PRICE: Approx Rs 30 lakh

ANJOLIE ELA MENON
Menon8217;s poignant Mother Teresa Caring Christ unites two universal figures of compassion with a distinctly Indian flavour. Mother Teresa takes the place of the Virgin and holds the emaciated body of a very brown Christ. The image created a stir when shown in 1998.
PRICE: Approx Rs 12 lakh

BADRI NARAYAN
A quiet self-taught painter with a yen for lyrical mythological subjects from the Mahabharat to the Bible, Narayan painted many Jesus figures. This 1989 Christ With the Bird of Eternal Life is the artist8217;s vision of the risen Messiah. A yogi emanating spiritual calm, He8217;s swathed in orange with yogi beads and dreadlocks. The bird, a recurring motif in Narayan8217;s work, symbolises the flight of the spirit.
PRICE: Approx Rs 59,800