Renowned painter Manjit Bawa passes away

New Delhi, Dec 29 (PTI) Noted artist Manjit Bawa, who
revolutionised the Indian painting scene with bold use of
vibrant colours, died here Monday after a prolonged illness.

The 67-year-old painter from Punjab's Dhuri area was in
coma for the last three years after suffering a stroke.

Bawa, who began his career as a silk-screen printer in
London in 1964, breathed his last this morning at his Green
Park residence in south Delhi.

Educated at Delhi's College of Art and London School of
Printing, Bawa started as a figurative painter and attained
great heights in the form.

One of the first painters to break out of the dominant
grays and browns of the western art and opt for more Indian
colours like red and violet, the maestro was influenced by
nature, Sufi mysticism and Indian mythology.

"He wanted to paint the sky red. He loved red. He was a
brave painter who had the courage to follow his convictions
unmindful of the popular trend. We will remember him for his
energy," Ena Puri, author of a biography on Bawa, told PTI.

Lalit Kala Akademi Chairman Ashok Vajpayee remembered
Bawa as a man of conviction who helped young artists. "He was
a versatile person. We will miss him," he said.

Birds and animals were a recurrent motif in his
paintings, either alone or in human company, besides flute, an
instrument which he learnt from Pannalal Ghosh, a doyen in
the field of music.

He had painted Ranjha, the cowherd from the tragic ballad
Heer Ranjha and Lord Krishna with a flute surrounded by dogs
and not cows as in mythological paintings. Indian gods Kali
and Shiva, whom Bawa considers as "icons of my country", also
figure prominently in his paintings.

There was an undercurrent of Sufi mysticism in the
choice of Bawa's subjects like the idyllic scenes of love and
peace, the flute playing Krishna, predatory animals and human
beings appearing together, art critics say.

Though his foray into art was opposed by his mother, it
was the elder brothers who encouraged him to pursue his dream
of becoming a painter.

"My mother would try to dissuade me, saying art was not a
means of livelihood. But my spiritual leanings dispelled my
fears. I believed that God would provide me with food and I
would earn the rest," the late artist had once said.

He was in College of Arts in Delhi where he was "moulded"
by artist Abani Sen, whom Bawa credits for his ability to
"distort forms and create the stylisation one sees in my works
today."

After his stint as a silkscreen printer in London, he
returned to India where he faced a "crisis" in his life. "I
asked myself what should I paint. I could not be just a
derivative of the European style," he had said.

Bawa broke out of the traditional style and lavishly
used vibrant colours for which he was criticised by some
quarters as using "ice cream colours".

"We have been brought up on a staple of ochres, grays and
browns in art. That's why when I began using bright colours
the reaction was negative," he had said. PTI SJY
AM