The poetry of line

Somnath Hore uses lines to depict life sufferings.

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Just as creation is shaped by geometry and mathematics, Somanth Hore’s world is shaped by lines. He unmasks one of the most complex questions of human existence — of suffering — through the complex simplicity of the line.

Some of his most powerful portraits and sketches are now on display at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in the exhibition ‘Tea Garden Journal and Other Drawings by Somnath Hore’. The exhibition features 66 original drawings from the journal and 108 pen and ink drawings from his sketchbooks.

A self-taught artist and printmaker, Somnath was commissioned by the Communist Party, whose ideology he shared, to capture the worker’s union movement in the tea gardens of Bengal in the 1930s (published by Seagull Books). He is also known for his documentation of the Bengal Famine of 1943, especially his sculptures of contorted human figures, often victims of war and famine. The artist was awarded a posthumous Padma Bhushan. “All of his work is a political commentary of his time. Though there are several important works by the artist,

The Tea Garden Journal is one of the most important works” says Megha Malhotra of The Seagull Foundation who co-curated the exhibition.

“We started with the

Tea Garden Journal being the focal point. We also wanted the audience in Bangalore to get a larger sense of Somanth Hore’s drawings so displayed his sketches from several notebooks.”

The drawings from Tea Garden Journal feature pen and ink depictions of life in the tea gardens as well as portraits (with written descriptions) of the workers who took charge of the union movements.

The exhibition, Megha explains, is a mix of playful drawings as well as powerful depictions of human suffering that he was deeply impacted by.

The exhibition showcases Somnath’s mastery over line as he shed embellishments and used intense, staccato lines to depict the intensity of suffering. Somnath lived and worked in Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan, after having taught at the Indian Art College, the Delhi Polytechnic and the MS University, Baroda.

“He was essentially embodying life around him. That’s what we wanted to showcase in the exhibition.”

‘Tea Garden Journal and Other Drawings by Somnath Hore’ will be on display until March 20 at the NGMA, 49, Manikyavelu Mansion, Palace Road. For details, contact 22342338.