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Jyotindra Manshankar Bhatt (12 March 1934), is an Indian artist best known for his modernist work in painting and printmaking and also his photographic documentation of rural Indian culture. He studied painting under ...
Jyotindra Manshankar Bhatt (12 March 1934), is an Indian artist best known for his modernist work in painting and printmaking and also his photographic documentation of rural Indian culture. He studied painting under N. S. Bendre and K.G. Subramanyan at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University (M.S.U.), Baroda. Later he studied fresco and mural painting at Banasthali Vidyapith in Rajasthan, and in the early 1960s went on to study at the Academia di Belle Arti in Naples, Italy, as well the Pratt Institute in New York.
Bhatt moved from a cubist influence in his early work, to a light hearted and colourful Pop art that often drew its imagery from traditional Indian folk designs. Though Bhatt worked in a variety of mediums, including water colours and oils, it is his printmaking that ultimately garnered him the most attention. In 1966 Bhatt returned to M.S.U. Baroda with a thorough knowledge of the intaglio process that he had gained at the Tamarind Workshop in New York. It was partially Bhatt’s enthusiasm for intaglio that caused other artists such as Jeram Patel, Bhupen Khakhar and Gulammohammed Sheikh, to take up the same process. Bhatt, and his compatriots at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Baroda, soon came to be known as “The Baroda School” of Indian art.
Late in the 1960s Bhatt was asked to take photographs of Gujarati folk art. Initially this work was done for a seminar, but it soon became one of the artist’s passions to document traditional Indian craft and design work. The disappearing arts of rural Gujarat became a focus. Though Bhatt’s investigations into village and tribal designs certainly influenced the motifs he used in his printmaking, Bhatt considers his documentary photographs to be an art form in themselves. His direct and simply composed photographs have become valued on their own merit.
Throughout Bhatt’s long career as a teacher at the M.S.U. Faculty of Fine Arts, he has photographed the evolution of the university, the artistic activities of its faculty and students, and the architecturally significant buildings of Baroda. This huge body of work is perhaps the best assembled photographic documentation that pertains to “The Baroda School” of Indian art.
It is Jyoti Bhatt’s prints, however, that are most associated with the artist. His etchings, intaglios, and screen prints have explored and re-explored a personal language of symbols that stem from Indian culture: the peacock, the parrot, the lotus, stylized Indian gods and goddesses, and unending variations on tribal and village designs. Recently he has explored digital printing and holography.
His work is in numerous international collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.,and The British Museum, London.
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BIODATA
Jyotindra Manshankar Bhatt (12 March 1934), is an Indian artist best known for his modernist work in painting and printmaking and also his photographic documentation of rural Indian culture. He studied painting under N. S. Bendre and K.G. Subramanyan at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University (M.S.U.), Baroda. Later he studied fresco and mural painting at Banasthali Vidyapith in Rajasthan, and in the early 1960s went on to study at the Academia di Belle Arti in Naples, Italy, as well the Pratt Institute in New York.
Bhatt moved from a cubist influence in his early work, to a light hearted and colourful Pop art that often drew its imagery from traditional Indian folk designs. Though Bhatt worked in a variety of mediums, including water colours and oils, it is his printmaking that ultimately garnered him the most attention. In 1966 Bhatt returned to M.S.U. Baroda with a thorough knowledge of the intaglio process that he had gained at the Tamarind Workshop in New York. It was partially Bhatt’s enthusiasm for intaglio that caused other artists such as Jeram Patel, Bhupen Khakhar and Gulammohammed Sheikh, to take up the same process. Bhatt, and his compatriots at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Baroda, soon came to be known as “The Baroda School” of Indian art.
Late in the 1960s Bhatt was asked to take photographs of Gujarati folk art. Initially this work was done for a seminar, but it soon became one of the artist’s passions to document traditional Indian craft and design work. The disappearing arts of rural Gujarat became a focus. Though Bhatt’s investigations into village and tribal designs certainly influenced the motifs he used in his printmaking, Bhatt considers his documentary photographs to be an art form in themselves. His direct and simply composed photographs have become valued on their own merit.
Throughout Bhatt’s long career as a teacher at the M.S.U. Faculty of Fine Arts, he has photographed the evolution of the university, the artistic activities of its faculty and students, and the architecturally significant buildings of Baroda. This huge body of work is perhaps the best assembled photographic documentation that pertains to “The Baroda School” of Indian art.
It is Jyoti Bhatt’s prints, however, that are most associated with the artist. His etchings, intaglios, and screen prints have explored and re-explored a personal language of symbols that stem from Indian culture: the peacock, the parrot, the lotus, stylized Indian gods and goddesses, and unending variations on tribal and village designs. Recently he has explored digital printing and holography.
His work is in numerous international collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C.,and The British Museum, London.
1985 Learnt basics of Holography, UK
1964-66 Learnt Printmaking, Pratt Institute and Pratt Graphic Art Center, New York specializing in Graphics
1961-62 Academia Di Belle Arti, Naples, Italy under Italian Government Scholarship
1953 Learnt Mural and Fresco Painting, Vanasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan
1950-56 Studied Painting and Printmaking, Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
Solo Exhibitions
2007 'Parallels That Meet: Paintings, Prints, Photographs', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2005 'Graphic Prints: An Overview Jyoti Bhatt', Anant Art Gallery, New Delhi
2004 'Printed Image: An Overview Retrospective', Exhibition of Graphic Prints, ABS Bayer Gallery, Vadodara
2001 'In Conversation: Painting and Sketchbook', Gallery Espace, New Delhi
1999 Centre for Photography, National Center for Policy Analysis and The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi
1998 'Printed Image: An Overview Retrospective Exhibition of Graphic Prints 1961-98', Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai
1998 'Multimedia: Art of The 90's', Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata
1993-97 Exhibition of Photographs at National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai; Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal and Art Heritage, New Delhi
1984-95 Photagraphic Exhibition at New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahemdabad, Bhopal, Baroda and Germany
1966-71 Solo Shows of Prints and Paintings, Mumbai, Ahemdabad and New Delhi
1964-66 3 Solo Shows of Prints and Paintings, USA
1963 Exhibition of Paintings, Mumbai
Group Exhibitions
2010 'Yeh Image Mahaan: India Meets Bharat', Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata
2010 'The Living Insignia', Gallery Ensign, New Delhi
2010 'Symbols and Metaphors', Centre of International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata
2008 'Baroda: A Tale of Two Cities', (Part I), Sarjan Art Gallery, Vadodara
2006 'Super Six Photographic Exhibition', organized by Jindal Photo Limited, Travelled All Over India
1999 'Icons and Symbols', Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata
1969 'Painters With Camera', Mumbai
1969 'Through Indian Eyes', Indian Photographers Show, Holland
1963 Group 1890 Show, New Delhi
Participations
2011 ‘Manifestations V', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2010 'Art Celebrates 2010: Sports and the City', by Gallery Art Motif at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi to coincide with the hosting of the Commonwealth Games
2010 'Contemporary Printmaking In India', presented by Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai
2010 'National Printmaking Portfolio', Marvel Art Gallery, Ahmedabad
2010 ‘Manifestations IV', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi
2010 'Where Three Dreams Cross: 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh', Whitechapel Gallery, London; Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland
2008-09 'Paz Mandala', Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
2005 'Manifestations III', organized by Delhi Art Gallery at Nehru Center, Mumbai and Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1998 '10 years of C.P.A.(1988-98)', National Centre for Performing Arts (N.C.P.A), Mumbai
1996-98 'Chamatkar' Exhibition of Paintings organized by Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA) at London
1996-98 'Tryst with Destiny' Art from Modern India, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
1984-90 '13th Photographic Contest', at Asian Cultural Centre for UNESCO at Japan, USA, USSR and Sweden
1984-90 'Eternal Wheel: 15 Indian Photographers, West Germany
1982-83 'Six Indian Photographers', Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Oxford, U.K
1969 'Painters and Photographers Exhibition, Sao Paulo International Triennale, Mumbai
1969 'Six Indian Photographers', Museum of Modern art (MOMA), Oxford
1967-72 Various International Print Biennale, Florence, Poland, Japan, Yugoslavia and Germany
1955-62 National Exhibition of Art, New Delhi
1954-63 'Baroda Group Shows', Bombay Art Society Annual Exhibitions, Mumbai; Kalidas Art Exhibitions, Ujjain
Honours and Awards
2005 Lifetime Achievement Award - Distinguished Photo Artist, Academy of Visual Media, New Delhi
2004 Awarded Hon. Doctorate, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata
2001 'Kalashri', All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi
2000 Received Gujarat State Award, Gujarat
2000 Senior Artist Award, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi
1998 Gujarat State Kala Academy Award, Gujarat
1996 Senior Fellowship, Ministry of Culture, Government of India
1996 Gaurav Puraskar, Gujarat State Lalit Kala Academy, Gujarat
1996 Gujrat State Special Award
1989 Grand-Prix, 13th Annual Photo Contest for Asia and Pacific, UNESCO, Japan
1978 Top Prize, World Photo Contest, Fotokina, Germany
1972-73 1st Prize for Design of Postal Stamp for 25th Anniversary of Independence
1967 First Prize for Graphic Print, State Lalit Kala Academy, Gujarat
1967 Gold Medal, International Print Biennale, Florence, Italy
1967 First Prize for Graphic Prints, State Lalit Kala Academy Exhibition, Gujarat
1967 Silver Medal, Bombay Art Society, Mumbai
1967 Bronze Medal, Nikon World Photo Contest, Japan
1964-66 Fulbright Scholarship and J.D.R. IIIrd Award for Printmaking at Pratt Institute, USA
1963-64 National Award, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi
1963-64 Annual Show, Bombay Art Society, Mumbai
1961-62 Government of Italy Scholarship to Study Pinting and Etching, Naples
1957,58,59 Government of India Scholarship under Prof. Bendre
1956 President's Gold Plaque, National Exhibition of Art, New Delhi
1956 Received Cultural Scholarship, Ministry of Culture and Education, Government of India
