Chronicling the Quotidian: Pratap Deb’s ongoing retrospective documents the everyday lives of ordinary men and women

In his portrait, Poised, Deb reimagines an elderly lady selling fruits whom he had met in Shillong, her younger self.

Take Poised, for instance. In the portrait, Deb reimagines an elderly lady selling fruits as her younger self. He had met her during his trip to Shillong. In Ice Cream Parlour, inspired from his visit to Paris, he captures the intimacy of a couple. As the spotlight falls on them, they transform into theatrical figures, separating them from the rest of the world.

As one walks through the gallery, Deb’s evolution and his range as an artist becomes evident. Born in 1933, he trained at the Government College of Art and Craft in Kolkata. While his academic grounding was in oil painting and portraiture, his later works leaned towards cubism and surrealism. Deb began his career in advertising, but later joined the Mass Communication and Design Department of the Government of India, where he designed campaigns such as “Jai Jawan and Jai Kisan” and “Hum Do Humare Do”. Throughout, however, he kept his artistic practice alive – sketching, painting wherever life took him.

His early pieces, including lithographs such as Where the Hills Gather (1950s) capture the village haat in Shillong with precision – the market buzzing with exchange with pine trees in the distance. In contrast, his later acrylic canvases are bolder, emulating the cubist abstraction style. His unfinished 2020 canvas, titled The Unfinished, based on a dancer named Josephine who he had met in Manila, Philippines, remains a reminder of how he was an artist who painted until illness stilled his brush.

Trumpet of Survival shows a balloon seller under a crescent moon with the skyscrapers serving as the backdrop.

Deb explored diverse styles, yet his works were bound together by his empathetic understanding of the common man’s life. Fellow artist Niren Gupta notes, “In many of his artworks, you will see Pratap Deb’s artistic view on everyday challenges and the hope of the common man. Relatability is the main character of his paintings.” The sentiment comes through in Trumpet of Survival, in which Deb paints a balloon seller, his fragile ribs outlined under the faint light of the crescent moon, even as the pastel shades lend him dignity.

Unveiled –designed by Artist-curator Oroon Das– therefore is as much a celebration of Deb’s life as an artist as it is a chronicle of the quotidian. The exhibition continues till September 14.