Prose Painting

A mighty Arjuna tree stands tall in the middle of his village. It alsocolours a young Paritosh Sen8217;s imagination. So much so that it becomes almost an allegory 8212; a symbol of village life.

His contemporaries and his fans, remember Paritosh Sen8217;s magical talent in wielding the pen

A mighty Arjuna tree stands tall in the middle of his village. It alsocolours a young Paritosh Sen8217;s imagination. So much so that it becomes almost an allegory 8212; a symbol of village life. It8217;s branches, where different birds nestle separately, represent the hierarchy of caste and class in his village. In his autobiographical book Jindabahar Lane , Paritosh Sen creates a potent world of imagination and reality, where his reaction to his surroundings is recorded with heartbreaking tenderness, but not soppy sentimentality. 8220;Paritosh Sen had the amazing ability to talk about past without romaticising it. That I believe, is a mark of a great writer,8221; says painter Jogen Chowdhury, who cites Jindabahar Lane as one of his favourite books.

Indeed, for a number of his admirers, the death of Sen is not only a loss of a great painter, but also of 8220;an important Bengali writer of the century8221;. 8220;When it comes to writing, Sen had the advantage of having a painter8217;s eye. He was perceptive of the size and shape, the colour and the texture of the things he described,8221; says artist Suvaprasanna. And he possessed the power to record that vividly too. In Jindabahar Lane and also in his prose collection, Fire and other Images, his evocative style, shines through.

8220;Sen was equally adept with the pen as the brush, if not more. My father, who was a Urdu poet, is a great admirer of his writing. He considers his work in great esteem,8221; says painter Wasim Kapoor.

Even Satyajit Ray considered Sen to be a great writing talent. 8220;Ray was a great admirer of Sen8217;s writing. And why shouldn8217;t he be? The vivid imagery that his writings evoked would appeal to all filmmakers,8221; says painter Ganesh Haloi, a self-confessed fan of Sen8217;s writings.

His essays on art and his contemporaries make for essential reading for any art aficionado. 8220;Recollections of past and attempts to comprehend the present, is the hallmark of Sen8217;s works, be it his paintings or books. His critiques reflect his beliefs,8221; says Chowdhury. Suvaprasanna treasures the essay that Sen wrote on him in the Bengali publication Desh. 8220;I consider that write up to be one of the most important critique of my works,8221; says the painter.

Moreover, his preoccupation with art history of India made him a unique writer. 8220;His writing on the Kishangarh Radha paintings and Aamsundari are seminal stuff,8221; asserts Haloi. Yet, he rues the fact that very little has been done to promote his work beyond the art circles. 8220;His writings aren8217;t only meant for art students. They make for great literature,8221; says Haloi.

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All his admirers agree that what makes Sen one of the most important artists of our times is his conviction that creativity can only exist in correlation with artistic freedom. 8220;His writings endorse freedom as central to the human experience. In this age of hooliganism, that is an important statement,8221; sums up Chowdhury.