An exhibition of the sketches of Somnath Hore, known for his portrayal of Bengal famine, will be held in Kochi from May 26.
It was the wounds in his life that late Somnath Hore, Bengali artist and printmaker, brought onto the canvas.
Born in Chittagong (now in Bangladesh), he entered art through politics. Somnath’s interest in art began during his days at Chittagong College. A communist, he portrayed the pangs of people around in the form of sculptures, drawings and prints.
Initially, he copied oil paintings by European masters to get hold of art. His stint with communism began when he joined for B.Sc at the City College in Kolkata. However, he couldn’t continue there as Second World War broke out and people were evacuated from the city.
In 1942, a village close to Somanth’s place became the victim of a bomb attack by Japan Air Force. Somanth witnessed the damages the bomb shell brought to that society and it was a wake-up call for the artist in him. Somnath is known for his depiction of Bengal famine. He travelled around and documented the situation through sketches, bringing out the ugly side of famine. “Somnath Hore’s sketches and prints on major historical crises and events of 20th century Bengal such as the Bengal famine and Tebhaga movement are very famous,” said Sathyapal T.A., chairman of Lalithakala Akademi.
Somnath never shied away from learning new techniques and grasped print making and graphics. Artist K.G. Subramanian once said that he didn’t know anyone better than Somnath in lithograph print. Somanth, who was the head of graphics and printmaking dept of Santiniketan, passed away in 2006. An exhibition of his works (sketches and prints) will be held at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery in Kochi from May 26 to June 26. Former minister M.A. Baby will inaugurate the exhibition of his works at 5 pm. There will also be an interactive session with art historian Prof R. Shivakumar after that. Sculptor K.S. Radhakrishnan will present a slide show — Njan Kanda Somanth Hore — on the venue. Madhusudhan Baul and Jayanthi Baul will perform on the occasion. The exhibition will be held from 11 am to 7 pm every day except on Mondays.
