Akbar Padamsee (12 April 1928 – 6 January 2020) was an Indian artist and painter, considered one of the pioneers in

modern Indian painting The modern Indian art movement in Indian painting is considered to have begun in Calcutta in the late nineteenth century. The old traditions of painting had more or less died out in Bengal and new schools of art were started by the British. Initi ...

along with S.H. Raza, F.N. Souza and M.F. Husain. Over the years he also worked with various mediums from oil painting, plastic emulsion, water colour, sculpture, printmaking, to

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, digital art, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. ...

, and photography. In addition, he worked as a film maker, sculptor, photographer, engraver, and lithographer. Today his paintings are among the most valued by modern Indian artists. His painting ''Reclining Nude'' was sold for US$1,426,500 at

Sotheby's Sotheby's ( ) is a British-founded multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine art, fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

in New York on 25 March 2011. He was awarded the Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship (Lalit Kala Ratna) by the Lalit Kala Akademi, India's National Academy of Arts, in 2004, the Kalidas Samman from the

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

Government in 1997 for ''

Plastic Arts Plastic arts are art forms which involve physical manipulation of a ''plastic medium'', such as clay, wax, paint or even plastic in the modern sense of the word (a ductile polymer) to create works of art. The term is used more generally to ...

'' and the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

, India's third highest civilian honour in 2010.

Early life and family

Padamsee was born into a traditional Khoja Muslim family hailing from the Kutch region of

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

. Their ancestors had belonged to the Cāraṇa caste of court poets and historians. The family had been settled in the nearby

Kathiawar Kathiawar (), also known as Saurashtra, is a peninsula in the south-western Gujarat state in India, bordering the Arabian Sea and covering about . It is bounded by the Kutch district in the north, the Gulf of Kutch in the northwest, and by the ...

region for some generations; Padamsee's grandfather, who had been the ''

sarpanch A sarpanch, gram pradhan, mukhiya, or president is a decision-maker, elected by the village-level constitutional body of local self-government called the gram sabha (village government) in India. The sarpanch, together with other elected panchay ...

'' (headman) of Vāghnagar, a village in Bhavnagar district, had earned the honorific name "Padamsee" (a corruption of "Padmashree") after he distributed his entire granary to the village during a famine. His original family name was "Charanyas", due to their ancestors being

Charan Charan (IAST: Cāraṇ; Sanskrit: चारण; Gujarati: ચારણ; Sindhi: چارڻ; IPA: cɑːrəɳə) is a caste in South Asia natively residing in the Rajasthan and Gujarat states of India, as well as the Sindh and Balochistan prov ...

as or court poets.. Padamsee's father, Hassan Padamsee, was an affluent businessman who owned 10 buildings and also ran a glassware and furniture business. His mother, Jenabhai Padamsee, was a home-maker. Akbar Padamsee was one of their eight children; one of his brothers is the actor

Alyque Padamsee Alyque Padamsee (5 March 1928 – 17 November 2018) was an Indian theatre personality and ad film maker. He played Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the 1982 British period film ''Gandhi''. He was conferred with Padma Shri in 2000. Besides being involved ...

. Although rich, the family was not well-educated, and neither of his parents had received much education. Alyque and his brothers (but not his sisters) were the first to attend school and learn English there; the parents later picked up a smattering of the language from their sons. Early in life, he started copying images from ''

The Illustrated Weekly of India ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'' was an English-language weekly newsmagazine publication in India. It started publication in 1880 (as ''Times of India'' Weekly Edition; later renamed as ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'' in 1923) and ceased ...

'' magazine in his father's accounts books at their store on Chakla Street, in

South Mumbai South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahalaxmi (Western side), Byculla ...

. He studied at St. Xavier's High School, Fort, and it was here that met his first mentor, his teacher Shirsat, a watercolourist. He first learned this medium, followed by classes on nudes at Charni Road in preparation for his studies at the Sir J.J. School of Art. As a result, he was allowed to join the course directly in its third year. He was still studying fine art at the school, when the Progressive Artists' Group (PAG) was formed in 1947 by Francis Newton Souza, S. H. Raza, and

M. F. Husain Maqbool Fida Husain (17 September 1915 – 9 June 2011) was an Indian painter and film director who painted Narrative painting, narrative paintings in a modified Cubism, Cubist style. He was one of the founding members of Bombay Progressiv ...

. The group was to have a lasting impact on Indian art. By the time he received his diploma he was already associated with the group. Akbar married Solange Gounelle, in Paris in 1954. The couple had one daughter, Raisa Padamsee. Akbar moved to India in 1968 and lived and worked in Mumbai with his wife Bhanumati Padamsee He had a number of siblings, but the most notable of them is

, who was a celebrated theatre personality & advertising mogul who headed the Lintas Bombay Ad agency. In the last years of his life, Padamsee and his wife Bhanu are reported to have moved into the Isha Yoga Center, Coimbatore permanently, after having visited the centre a few times several years ago.

Career

In late 1950, Raza was awarded a French government scholarship, and he invited Padamsee to accompany him to Paris. Padamsee left for Paris in 1951, where artist Krishna Reddy introduced him to the

surrealist Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...

Stanley Hayter, who became his next mentor. Padmasee soon joined his studio, " Atelier 17". His first exhibition was held in Paris in 1952. The artists exhibited anonymously, thus he shared the prize awarded by the French magazine ''Journal d'Arte'' with the painter Jean Carzou. His very first solo show was held at the

Jehangir Art Gallery Jehangir Art Gallery is an art gallery in Mumbai (India). It was founded by Sir Cowasji Jehangir at the urging of K. K. Hebbar and Homi J. Bhabha. It was built in 1952. Managed by the Committee of Management, the entire cost of this mansion wa ...

in 1954, and soon he became one of leading artists. He received the Lalit Kala Akademi Fellowship in 1962, a fellowship by the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

in 1965 and was subsequently invited to be an

artist-in-residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

by the

University of Wisconsin–Stout The University of Wisconsin–Stout (UW–Stout or Stout) is a public university in Menomonie, Wisconsin, United States. The Institute of technology, polytechnic university of the University of Wisconsin System, it enrolls more than 6,900 stude ...

. He returned to India in 1967. As a member of many artistic committees, he took part in the development of the collections of the Bharat Bhawan museum of

Bhopal Bhopal (; ISO 15919, ISO: Bhōpāl, ) is the capital (political), capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes,'' due to ...

, and created the VIEW (Vision Exchange Workshop). He curated major cultural events and received many distinctions such as the Padma Shri in 2009. His work is introspective; his "Metascapes" or his "Mirror Images" are abstract images formed from the search for a formal logic. His topics include landscapes, nudes, heads and he has done portraits created in pencil and charcoal. The depth which emerges from his oil-based works, emanates from the coloured matter. This creates a pictorial technique juxtaposing emerging split forms. He has done, in addition to his painted work, black and white photographs which use light to create dimension. Padamsee always explored new plastic genres; he also explored computers in "Compugraphics". He lived in South Mumbai with his wife Bhanumati, and worked at his studio in

Prabhadevi Prabhadevi (Pronunciation: ɾəbʱaːd̪eʋiː is a prominent residential and religious neighborhood in South Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is known for its mix of high-end residential buildings, cultural landmarks, and historical significan ...

. He died on 6 January 2020 at the age of 91.

Filmmaking

Between 1969 and 1970, Akbar Padamsee, one of the pioneers of Modern Indian painting, made a rare

16mm 16 mm film is a historically popular and economical gauge of film. 16 mm refers to the width of the film (about inch); other common film gauges include 8 mm and 35 mm. It is generally used for non-theatrical (e.g., industrial, ...

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...

titled ''Syzygy''. This was a silent

animation Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

film made up solely of lines and dots and the connections between them. This film was made using a code or

algorithm In mathematics and computer science, an algorithm () is a finite sequence of Rigour#Mathematics, mathematically rigorous instructions, typically used to solve a class of specific Computational problem, problems or to perform a computation. Algo ...

and can now be seen as an early example of

generative art Generative art is post-conceptual art that has been created (in whole or in part) with the use of an autonomous system. An ''autonomous system'' in this context is generally one that is non-human and can independently determine features of an ...

. The word syzygy is often used to describe interesting configurations of astronomical objects in general. With its attempt at pure form, it is also a precursor to

computer art Computer art is art in which computers play a role in the production or display of the artwork. Such art can be an image, sound, animation, video, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, video game, website, algorithm, performance or gallery installation. Many traditio ...

digital art Digital art, or the digital arts, is artistic work that uses Digital electronics, digital technology as part of the creative or presentational process. It can also refer to computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960 ...

, despite being entirely hand-made. In 2015, filmmaker

Ashim Ahluwalia Ashim Ahluwalia (born 1972 in Mumbai, India) is a film director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut with the feature-length documentary ''John & Jane'' (2005), which had a world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival an ...

discovered that Padamsee had made a second film that had fallen into obscurity. ''Titled Events In A Cloud Chamber'', was shot on a 16mm

Bolex Bolex International S. A. is a Swiss manufacturer of motion picture cameras based in Yverdon located in Canton of Vaud, the most notable products of which are in the 16 mm and Super 16 mm formats. Originally Bol, the company was founded ...

camera. The film ran for six minutes and featured a single image of a dreamlike terrain. Inspired by one of Padamsee's own oil paintings, he had experimented with a new technique of superimposing shapes formed with stencils and a

carousel slide projector A carousel slide projector is a slide projector that uses a rotary tray to store slides, used to project slide photographs and to create slideshows. It was first patented on May 11, 1965, by David E. Hansen of Fairport, New York. Hansen was an i ...

. The abstract electronic soundtrack was composed in 1969 by Geeta Sarabhai, thereby qualifying her as the first female electronic musician in India. After just a handful of screenings in 1970, the film was shipped to an art expo in

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

where it was misplaced. The reversal print is now lost and no copies exist. Between 2015 and 2016, Ashim Ahluwalia worked with Padamsee, who was then almost 89 years old, to try and remake the lost film from memory. The filmmaker managed to track down the original tapes of Sarabhai’s score but they had been demagnetized. Ahluwalia’s 2016 film, also called ''Events In A Cloud Chamber'' as a result of their collaboration and premiered at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

followed by screenings at

The Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of arc ...

and other venues, renewing interest in Padamsee’s neglected film work. Syzygy has recently had a revival screening at the

Camden Arts Centre Camden Art Centre (known as Hampstead Arts Centre until 1967 and Camden Arts Centre until 2020) is a contemporary art gallery in the London Borough of Camden, England. It hosts temporary exhibitions and educational outreach projects, with a prog ...

in an exhibition titled “Zigzag Afterlives: film experiments from the 1960s and 1970s in India” by curator Nancy Adajania. It was included in the exhibition “Mud Muses” at the

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö. History The museum opened in Stockh ...

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Publications

*Padamsee, Padamsee, Text by Shamlal, Published by Pundole Art Gallery`, 2004 *Padamsee, Works on Paper-Critical Boundaries, Text by Shamlal, Published by Vakils & Sons, 1964 *Padamsee, Work in language, Marg/Pundole gallery, 372 p, 348 ill; Mumbai 2009, *Padamsee, Works and Words, film by Laurent Brégeat, 55mn, Lalit Kala Akademi, 2010

Selected solo exhibitions

*2010 'Body Parts', The Loft, Mumbai *2010 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *2008 'Sensitive Surfaces', Galerie Helene Lamarque, Paris *2007 'Metascape to Humanscape', Aicon Gallery, Palo Alto *2006 Metascape to Humanscape', Aicon Gallery, New York *2006 Photographs (2004–06), Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai *2005 Gallery Threshold and the French Embassy in India, New Delhi *2004 Retrospective of Watercolors, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *2003 'Critical Boundaries', Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *2002 'Drawing Show', Gallery Chemould, Mumbai *2002 'Tertiaries', Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *1999 'Compugraphics', Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai and Art Heritage, New Delhi *1997 'Imaging Gandhi', Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *1996 'Female Nudes', Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *1994 'Mirror Images', Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *1993 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *1993 'Heads', Sakshi Gallery, Bangalore *1992 Art Heritage, New Delhi *1992 Sanskriti Art Gallery, Kolkata *1988 Art Heritage, New Delhi and Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai *1986 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *1980 Retrospective of works organised by Art Heritage, New Delhi and Mumbai *1981 Urja Gallery, Baroda *1975 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *1974 'Metascapes', Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *1972 'Metascapes', Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *1967 Museum of Contemporary Art, Montreal *1963 Gallery '63, New York *1962 Kunika Chemould Art Centre, New Delhi *1960 Painting in Grey, Gallery '59, Mumbai *1957 Galerie de Ventadour, France *1954 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai *1953 Gallery Raymond Creure, Paris *1952 Galerie Saint Placide, Paris

Selected group exhibitions

*2010 'The Progressives & Associates',

Grosvenor Gallery The Grosvenor Gallery was an art gallery in London founded in 1877 by Sir Coutts Lindsay and his wife Blanche. Its first directors were J. Comyns Carr and Charles Hallé. The gallery proved crucial to the Aesthetic Movement because it provid ...

, London *2010 'Masters of Maharashtra', collection from Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi at Piramal Gallery, National Centre for the Performing Arts ( NCPA), Mumbai *2010 'Master's Corner', organised by Indian Contemporary Art Journal at

, Mumbai; India International Art Fair, New Delhi *2010 'Manifestations IV', Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi *2010 'From Miniature to Modern: Traditions in Transition', Rob Dean Art, London in association with Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *2010 'Figure/Landscape – Part One', Aicon Gallery, New York *2010 'Contemporary Printmaking In India', presented by Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai; Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai *2010 'Black is Beautiful', India Fine Art, Mumbai *2010 'Black and White', Galerie Mirchandani + Steinruecke, Mumbai *2010 'Art Celebrates 2010', represented by Gallery Threshold at Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi to coincide with the hosting of the Commonwealth Games *2009 'Think Small', Art Alive Art Gallery, New Delhi *2009 'Sacred and Secular', India Fine Art, Mumbai *2009 'Progressive to Altermodern: 62 Years of Indian Modern Art', Grosvenor Gallery, London *2009 'Miniature Format Show 2009 – IInd Part', Sans Tache Gallery, Mumbai *2009 'Indian Art After Independence: Selected Works from the Collections of Virginia & Ravi Akhoury and Shelley & Donald Rubin', Emile Lowe Gallery, Hempstead *2009 'Bharat Ratna! Jewels of Modern Indian Art',

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

*2008–09 'Expanding Horizons: Contemporary Indian Art’, Traveling Exhibition presented by Bodhi Art at Ravinder Natya Mandir, P.L. Despande Kala Academy Art Gallery, Mumbai; Sant Dyaneshwar Natya Sankul Art Gallery, Amravati; Platinum Jubilee Hall, Nagpur; Tapadia Natya Mandir Sports Hall, Aurangabad; Hirachand Nemchand Vachanalay's, Solapur; Acharya Vidyanand Sanskrutik Bhavan, Kolhapur; PGSR Sabhagriha, SNDT, Pune; Sarvajanik Vachanalaya Hall, Nasik *2008 'Harvest 2008', organised by Arushi Arts at The Stainless Gallery, New Delhi *2008 'Faces', Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai *2008 ‘The Miniature Format Show – Part I’, Sans Tache, Mumbai *2008 ‘Freedom 2008 – Sixty Years of Indian Independence’, Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA), Kolkata *2007–08 ‘India Art Now: Between Continuity and Transformation’, Province of Milan, Milan, Italy *2007 ‘Winter Show’, Aicon Gallery, Palo Alto *2006 'Drawing Show an Act of Art II', Priyasri Art Gallery, Mumbai *2006 Centre for International Modern Art (CIMA) Gallery, Kolkata *2006 ‘Shadow Lines’, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi *2005 Gallery Threshold, New Delhi *2005 Contemporary Indian Art, Nehru Center, London *2005 ‘Visions of Landscape’, Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai *2004 Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *2004 ‘Concept and Form’, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi *2004 ‘Anticipations’, Fine Arts Resource, Mumbai *2002 'Words and Images', Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai *2002 Saffronart and Pundole Gallery, New York *2001 Saffronart and Pundole Gallery, New York *2001 'Engendering Images of a Woman', Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai *2000 'Rare Collection' Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai *1999 'Creative Process', Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai *1998 'Drawings', Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai *1997 Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai *1997 ’50 Years of Indian Art’, Mohile Parikh Centre for Visual Arts (MPCVA), Mumbai *1996 ‘Modern & Contemporary Paintings: One Hundred Years’, London *1995 Indian Contemporary Paintings, London *1994 ‘Mirror-Image Series’, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *1993 Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai *1993 Reflections & Images, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai *1992 Sanskrit Art Gallery, Kolkata *1992 Group Show with Laxman Shreshtha & Jogen Chowdhury, Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *1991 ‘State of the Art’ First Computer Art Show in Mumbai, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai *1991 ‘National Exhibition of Contemporary Art’, National Gallery of Modern Art ( NGMA), New Delhi *1990 Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai *1989 'Timeless Art', Mumbai *1988 Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai *1987 Festival of India in USS.R, Moscow *1985 Indian Artists in France *1985 'Artistes Indiens en France' Foundation Nationale des Arts Graphiques et Plastiques, Paris *1984 Contemporary Indian Painters, Raj Bhavan, Mumbai. Organized by Pundole Art Gallery, Mumbai *1982 'Contemporary Indian Art', Festival of India, Royal Academy of Art, London *1981 Indian Painting Today, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai *1981 'India: Myth & Reality – Aspects of Modern Indian Art’ Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Oxford *1979 ‘Focus’, Gallery Chemould, Mumbai *1968 Indian Triennale, New Delhi *1963 Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy *1963 Gallery '63, New York *1963 3rd Paris Biennale, Paris *1961 2nd Paris Biennale, Paris *1959 Tokyo Biennale, Japan *1959 São Paulo Biennale, Brazil *1958 ‘Seven Indian Painters’, Gallery One, London *1955 Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy *1953 Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy *1953 Galerie Raymond Creuse, Paris *1952 Galerie Saint – Placide, Paris Participations

Honours and awards

*2004 - Lalit Kala Ratna, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi *1997–98 - Kalidas Samman by the Madhya Pradesh Government *1969 - Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship *1967 - Artist in Residence, Stout State University, Wisconsin *1965 - J.D. Rockefeller IIIrd Fund, Fellowship

References

External links

"Akbar Padamsee Profile, Interview and Artworks"Akbar Padamsee, websitePainting at the Lalit Kala Akademi websitePadamsee on Tevasia

Pandole Art Gallery
{{DEFAULTSORT:Padamsee, Akbar Indian contemporary painters Indian male painters Indian Ismailis 1928 births 2020 deaths Artists from Mumbai Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art alumni Indian modern painters Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in arts Fellows of the Lalit Kala Akademi Rockefeller Fellows Jawaharlal Nehru Fellows 20th-century Indian painters Painters from Maharashtra Khoja Ismailis Gujarati people