Gopal Balwant Kamble (22 July 191821 July 2002) was an Indian painter known for painting

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

movie posters and realist portraits of people from

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Early life

Kamble was born on 22 July 1918 in the Mangalwar Peth neighborhood of

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarter of the Kolhapur district. In, around 2 C.E. Kolapur's name was 'Kuntal'. Kolhapur is kn ...

city, then part of the princely

Kolhapur State Kolhapur State or Kolhapur Kingdom (1710–1949) was a Maratha princely State of India, under the Deccan Division of the Bombay Presidency, and later the Deccan States Agency. It was considered the most important of the Maratha principalities wi ...

. He was born in a poor Hindu

Khatik The Khatik (Hindi: खटीक, Urdu: کھٹیک), are an ethnic tribe found in the Indian subcontinent, mainly modern-day India, Pakistan and Nepal. They are one of the most widespread community in South Asia. Khatik have a population of ap ...

family.

Career

Movie posters

Kamble could not pursue traditional technical education in arts due to financial constraints and started learning poster painting in Kolhapur at the Hans talkies and as an unpaid intern at the Cinetone studios. He considered Italian painter

Fortunino Matania Chevalier Fortunino Matania (16 April 1881 – 8 February 1963) was an Italian artist noted for his realistic portrayal of World War I trench warfare and of a wide range of historical subjects. Life Born in Naples, the son of artist Eduardo Mat ...

to be his role model. He moved to Mumbai (then Bombay) in the 1930s to start working in film industry. He received assignments from movie studios to paint promotional posters. In the beginning he painted movie posters for

Ranjit Studios Ranjit Studios, also known as Ranjit Movietone, was an Indian film production company with studio facilities located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It produced films between 1929 and mid-1970s. The studio was founded by Chandulal Shah along wi ...

, The Bombay Talkies Studios,

Gemini Studios Gemini Studios was an Indian film studio based in Madras, Tamil Nadu. It was launched when S. S. Vasan, a businessman of many ventures (including the ownership of Ananda Vikatan) bought Motion Picture Producers' Combines from Krishnaswamy Subr ...

(Madras), National Studios,

Prabhat Film Company Prabhat Film Company (popularly known as Prabhat Films) was an Indian film production company and film studios founded in 1929 by the noted film director V.Shantaram and his friends. It was formed in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India in 1929, towar ...

, and the

Film City, Mumbai Film City or Dadasaheb Phalke Chitra Nagari is an integrated film studio complex situated near Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Goregaon East, Mumbai in India. It has several recording rooms, gardens, lakes, theatres and grounds that serve as t ...

V. Shantaram Shantaram Rajaram Vankudre (18 November 1901 – 30 October 1990), referred to as V. Shantaram or Shantaram Bapu, was an Indian filmmaker, film producer, and actor known for his work in Hindi and Marathi films. He is most known for films such ...

, the foremost film maker of era, invited Kamble to work for his

Rajkamal Kalamandir Rajkamal Kalamandir was a noted film production company and studio in Mumbai. It was established by V. Shantaram in 1942, after he left Prabhat Films. The studio produced films both in Hindi and Marathi, and it was best known for '' Dr. Kotnis Ki Am ...

studio. In the times before TV and radio, movie promotion was highly dependent on the appealing colourful posters by Kamble and his posters were successful and highly appreciated all over India. Kamble painted movie posters for hit films including

Do Aankhen Barah Haath ''Do Aankhen Barah Haath'' () is a 1957 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by V. Shantaram, who also starred. It is considered to be one of the classics of Hindi cinema and is based on humanistic psychology. It won a Silver Bear at the 8 ...

(for which he produced a 350-ft banner at Bombay's Opera House in 1957),

Amar Bhoopali ''Amar Bhoopali'' (English: ''The Immortal Song'', French: ''Le Chant Immortel'') is a 1951 Indian film, produced and directed by V. Shantaram and written by Vishram Bedekar. It is a true story about a simple cow herder who has an innate gift of ...

Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje ''Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje'' () is a 1955 Indian Hindi-language dance film directed by V. Shantaram. It stars Shantaram's wife Sandhya and dancer Gopi Krishna in lead roles. One of the earlier Technicolor films made in India, the film won the ...

Navrang Navrang is a 1959 Indian Hindi-language film co-written and directed by V. Shantaram. The film is noted for its dance sequences with lead actress Sandhya and music by C. Ramchandra, while playback singer Mahendra Kapoor made his singing debut wi ...

Shakuntala Shakuntala (Sanskrit: ''Śakuntalā'') is the wife of Dushyanta and the mother of Emperor Bharata. Her story is told in the '' Adi Parva'' of the ancient Indian epic ''Mahabharata'' and dramatized by many writers, the most famous adaption bein ...

Apna Desh ''Apna Desh'' () is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language action drama film, produced by A.V. Subramaniam and T.M.Kittu and directed by Jambu. The film stars Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz, Om Prakash, Jagdeep, Mukkamala, Madan Puri and the credited Roja Ramani, ...

, Sehra,

Toofan Aur Deeya ''Toofan Aur Deeya (Storm and Lamp)'' is a 1956 Bollywood film directed by Prabhat Kumar and starring Satish Vyas, Nanda, Rajendra Kumar, Vatsala Deshmukh, Shanta Kumari, Krishna Kumar, Keshavrao Date, and Ulhas. Plot Summary of Toofan Aur ...

, Bhakticha Mala, and

Geet Gaya Patharon Ne ''Geet Gaya Patharon Ne'' () is a 1964 Hindi-language drama film, produced and directed by V. Shantaram on V. Shantaram Productions banner. Starring Jeetendra, Rajshree which were first marked debut to both of them and music is composed by Ram ...

. He was also responsible for painting posters for the iconic Hindi movie

Mughal-e-Azam ''Mughal-e-Azam'' () is a 1960 Indian epic historical drama film produced and directed by K. Asif. Starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, and Durga Khote, it follows the love affair between Mughal Prince Salim (who went on ...

Portraits

After some time in movie industry, Kamble turned his focus to drawing personal portraits of prominent people. Kamble's portrait of

Chhatrapati Shivaji Shivaji Bhonsale I (; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the declining Adilsh ...

was accepted by the government of Maharashtra as the official portrait in the 1970s, but he received flak from reformer

Madhavrao Bagal Madhavrao Khanderao Bagal (28 May 1895 – 6 March 1986), also called Bhai Madhavrao Bagal, was a noted writer, artist, journalist, social reformer, political activist, orator and freedom fighter from Kolhapur. Early life He was born on 28 ...

for asserting that his portrait of Shivaji was based upon a divine vision. His portrait of

Shahu of Kolhapur Shahu (also known as Chhatrapati Rajarshi Shahu, Shahu IV, Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj, Kolhapur's Shahu) (26 June 1874 – 6 May 1922) of the Bhonsle dynasty of Marathas was a Raja (reign. 1894 – 1900) and the first Maharaja (1900–1922) of t ...

was utilized to recreate the likeness for commemorative postal stamp in 1979. He painted prominent social reformers and politicians

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokmānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence a ...

Jyotirao Phule Jyotirao Govindrao Phule, also known as Mahatma Jyotiba Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890) was an Indian social activist, thinker, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His work extended to many fields, including erad ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who headed the committee drafting the Constitution of India from the Constituent Assembly debates, served a ...

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Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Tagore (; bn, রবীন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He resh ...

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Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her cont ...

. Some of his paintings are on permanent display in the ''Kailashgarhchi Sawari Mandir (temple)'' in Kolhapur.

Selected works

*Posters:

(1956),

(1957), Son of India (1962), May Bahini (Marathi, 1952), Maharani Yesubai (Marathi, 1954), Tambdi Maati (Marathi, 1969) *Banners:

Roti Roti (also known as chapati) is a round flatbread native to the Indian subcontinent. It is popular in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Guyana, Suriname, Jamaica, Trinid ...

(1942),

(1955),

(1959), Rajkamal Kalamandir's production Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946) *Cinema Displays:

(1943) at the Swastik Cinema, Lamington Road in Mumbai, Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957) at

Opera House An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...

, Mughal-e-Azam (1960) at

Maratha Mandir Maratha Mandir is a cinema hall located in Maratha Mandir Marg, Mumbai, India. It opened on 16 October 1958 and has 1000 seats. In the 1960s and 1970s, it was known for its lavish film launches, but the introduction of multiplexes diverted "cla ...

. *Booklet Art:

Subah Ka Tara ''Subah Ka Tara'' (The Morning Star) is a 1954 Hindi social romantic film directed by V. Shantaram. The film was produced by Rajkamal Kalamandir and had story and dialogues by Shams Lucknavi. The director of photography was G. Balkrishna. It had ...

(1954); Marathi films Shilanganache Sone (1949), Shiva Ramoshi (1951).

Death

Kamble died on 21 July 2002. A Kolhapur street near his house was named after him. In 2013, his descendants announced they were planning to erect an art gallery to showcase his work and requested financial support from the government.

References

External links

Photos of G. Kamble and some of his paintings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamble, G. Painters from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian painters Indian portrait painters Indian male painters 1918 births 2002 deaths People from Kolhapur Marathi people 20th-century Indian male artists