Modern masters and contemporary sculptors brought together in single viewing at city gallery

A recently concluded group exhibition brought together works by early modern Indian painters, post-Progressive artists and contemporary sculptors within a single curatorial framework, allowing viewers to see shifts in form and material across generations in one viewing.

Paintings by Nandalal Bose and Jamini Roy were placed alongside works by later figures such as Bikash Bhattacharjee, M. F. Husain, Ram Kumar, Shyamal Dutta Ray and Prakash Karmakar. Instead of arranging the works chronologically, the exhibition presented them in shared spaces, encouraging comparison between different artistic approaches and periods.

Sculptural works by Debabrata De, Prafull Singh, Tapas Sarkar, Somnath Chakraborty, Tushar Kanti Das Roy, Debjyoti Purakayastha and Milan Sengupta were integrated into the same viewing areas as the paintings, rather than being displayed separately. This placement highlighted contrasts between surface and volume, as well as continuity in artistic concerns across mediums.

Curator Mousumi Mukherji said the exhibition was designed to avoid a hierarchy between painting and sculpture. “The idea was to let works from different generations and mediums exist together, without dividing them into rigid categories,” she said.

She added that the focus was on sustained engagement rather than spectacle. “By keeping the presentation simple, the intention was to allow viewers to reflect on form, material and process,” Mukherji said.

The exhibition was held at Nakshatra Art Gallery in Kolkata from November 15 to December 22.