The Progressive Artists' Group (PAG), was a group of

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...

ists, mainly based in

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

, from its formation in 1947. Though it lacked any particular style, there might be said to have been a move towards a synthesis of influences from Indian art history together with styles prevalent in Europe and

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

during the first half of the 20th century, including

Post-Impressionism Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...

Cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

and

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

History

The Progressive Artists' Group (PAG) was formed by six founder members, F. N. Souza, S. H. Raza,

M. F. Husain Maqbool Fida Husain (17 September 1915 – 9 June 2011) was an Indian painter and film director who painted Narrative painting, narrative paintings in a modified Cubism, Cubist style. He was one of the founding members of Bombay Progressiv ...

, K. H. Ara, H. A. Gade, and S. K. Bakre (the only sculptor in the group). Others, who later got associated with the group included Ram Kumar, Akbar Padamsee and Tyeb Mehta. The group wished to break with the revivalist nationalism established by the Bengal school of art and to encourage an Indian avant-garde, engaged at an international level. The Group was formed just months after the 14 August 1947 "Partition of India" and Pakistan that resulted in religious rioting and death of tens of thousands of people displaced by the new borders. The founders of the Progressive Artists Group often cite "the partition" as impetus for their desire for new standards in visual arts in India, starting with their new style of art. Their intention was to "paint with absolute freedom for content and technique, almost anarchic, save that we are governed by one or two sound elemental and eternal laws, of aesthetic order, plastic co-ordination and colour composition." The original PAG disintegrated by 1950 with the departure of F. N. Souza, S. H. Raza, two important founders of PAG from India; Later S K Bakre also left the group and went to UK. The artists such as Vasudeo S. Gaitonde, Krishen Khanna and Mohan Samant continue the activities of the group with three original PAG members M F Husain, H A Gade and K H Ara in India for few more years.

Bhanu Athaiya Bhanu Athaiya (née Rajopadhye; 28 April 192915 October 2020) was an Indian costume designer and painter. She was the first Indian to win an Academy Awards, Academy Award. Alongside being Bollywood's most iconic costume designer, she had a his ...

(the only woman artist associated with PAG), Krishen Khanna, and Mohan Samant too got associated with the group. The Progressive Artists Group held three exhibitions all together. The first was held i
1948
at the Bombay Art Society’s Salon on Rampart Row, Kalaghoda,

, India; the Bombay Art Society’s salon was later recognized as Artists Centre. The second show was held in Kolkata in 1950; by the time two of group’s main founders Raza and Souza had left India for Paris and UK respectively. The third and the last show was held with three founder members of PAG in which Krishen Khanna, Bhanu Athaiya, V S Gaitonde, A A Raiba also participated in 1953. The group was ultimately disbanded in 1956. European

Modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

was the most distinctive influence on the group, but its members worked in dramatically different styles, from the Expressionism of Souza to the pure abstraction of Gaitonde. Specific Indian imagery and landscapes were also adopted, particularly by Mehta and Husain. Through the incorporation and mixture of new, abstract styles with traditional Indian art elements and Media, the PAG is one of the most influential art movements in India until today. In 2015, F.N. Souza's painting "Birth" set a new record for Indian art with a

hammer price In auctions, the buyer's premium is a charge in addition to the hammer price (i.e. the winning bid announced) of an auction item, or lot. The winning bidder is required to pay both the hammer price and the percentage of that price called for by t ...

above US$4 Million, which shows the worldwide appeal of the group.

References

Sources

* Partha Mitter, ''Indian Art (Oxford History of Art)'', Oxford University Press (2001),

External links

How it all started- Progressive artist group

* - includes group photo
Private CollectionWorks in the University of Michigan Museum of ArtWorks at the Tate
{{Authority control Arts organisations based in India Art movements Arts organizations established in 1947 Organizations disestablished in 1956 Modern art Organisations based in Mumbai 1947 establishments in India Indian artist groups and collectives

History

See also

References

Sources

External links