Bireswar Sen's art comes back to life as his family revives his work and exhibits it as a tribute.
“What does a poet or an artist really see? Is his vision the same as ours, a matter of fact optical impression of the fleeting moment, or something deeper and different?” once questioned Bireswar Sen and left his admirers wondering. Perhaps there are no definite answers either but having a look at Bireswar Sen’s work seems like his work was his way to seek answers to this quest. Through his work, Sen seems to explore colours and forms by placing them in various landscapes and he does so, beautifully.
However, ever since his passing away in 1947, for almost four decades, the genius of Bireswar Sen’s craft stayed neglected. Widely exhibited and highly acclaimed in its own day, Sen’s work stayed out of the lime light for over four decades, only to comeback and make waves again in the Indian art circuit. This, however, is also the result of the determined efforts of the Bireswar Sen Family Trust, which is a joint venture of the Sen family and distinguished art historian, Prof BN Goswamy.
“He was a celebrated artist of his time, but after his death his work got relegated so the Bireswar family decided to bring things virtually out of the closet. In the last three years we set up a trust with an objective of popularising his work in India and abroad. As a tribute to our grandfather and also as an opportunity for art lovers to experience his work, we decided to showcase his work once again,” says the proud grandson, Jnaneswar Sen, who worked hard to revive his grand fathers art.
Bireswar Sen, an acclaimed artist, who still continues to be an inspiration for the new breed of artists, is fondly remember by art historian BN Goswamy in the exhibition catalogue, Conversations with nature, the art of Bireswar Sen.
An excerpt from BN Goswamy’s essay is produced below: “At some level, while conversing with nature, Bireswar Sen lets the viewer pick up some conversations on his own; those taking place between the figures — those tiny little but finely articulated figures that are no more than mere blobs on the page — that he almost always introduces into his painting where nature reigns supreme but man, and his condition is not forgotten either.”
It is not just the historians who are raving about Sen’s miniature paintings, the new generation of artists are equally thrilled to be able to witness his genius. Sanali Iyenger, a contemporary fine artist, is all praises. “I feel the paintings are fabulous and the size is extreme miniature for a landscape. There is a great understanding of the colour combination in Sen’s work and in that miniature size, it’s pure genius. It must have taken guts to create those tiny figures, but they are most articulately and artistically done,” she says.
Go ahead and relish the yesteryears art at display while you still can.
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