Gopal Balwant Kamble (22 July 191821 July 2002) was an Indian painter known for painting

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

movie posters and realist portraits of people from

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

Early life

Kamble was born on 22 July 1918 in the Mangalwar Peth neighborhood of

Kolhapur Kolhapur () is a city on the banks of the Panchganga River in the southern part of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Kolhapur is one of the most significant cities in South Maharashtra and has been a hub of historical, religious, and cultural a ...

city, then part of the princely

Kolhapur State The Kolhapur State was a Maratha princely state of India, under the Deccan Division of the Bombay Presidency, and later the Deccan States Agency. It was considered the most important of the Maratha principalities with the others being Baroda Sta ...

. He was born in a poor Hindu

Khatik The Khatik (Hindi: खटीक) is a caste found in the Indian subcontinent, mainly modern-day India, Pakistan and Nepal. Khatik are located mainly in New Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan,Karnataka,Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangan ...

family.

Career

Movie posters

Kamble could not pursue traditional technical education in arts due to financial constraints and started learning poster painting in Kolhapur at the Hans talkies and as an unpaid intern at the Cinetone studios. He considered Italian painter Fortunino Matania to be his role model. He moved to Mumbai (then Bombay) in the 1930s to start working in film industry. He received assignments from movie studios to paint promotional posters. In the beginning he painted movie posters for

Ranjit Studios Ranjit Studios, also known as Ranjit Movietone, was an Indian film production company with studio facilities located in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It produced films between 1929 and mid-1970s. The studio was founded by Chandulal Shah along w ...

, The Bombay Talkies Studios,

Gemini Studios Gemini Studios was an Indian film studio based in Madras, Tamil Nadu. It was launched when S. S. Vasan, a businessman of many ventures (including the ownership of Ananda Vikatan) bought Motion Picture Producers' Combines from Krishnaswamy Su ...

(Madras), National Studios,

Prabhat Film Company Prabhat Film Company (popularly known as Prabhat Films) was an Indian film production company and studio facility founded in 1929 in Kolhapur. It was established by filmmaker V. Shantaram, along with Vishnupant Govind Damle, Keshav Rao Dhaibar, ...

, and the

Film City, Mumbai Film City, officially known as Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari, is an integrated film studio complex located in Goregaon East, Mumbai. Established in 1977 by the Maharashtra state government, it was created to provide facilities and concessions ...

. V. Shantaram, the foremost film maker of era, invited Kamble to work for his

Rajkamal Kalamandir Rajkamal Kalamandir was a noted film production company and studio in Mumbai. It was established by V. Shantaram in 1942, after he left Prabhat Films. The studio produced films both in Hindi and Marathi, and it was best known for (1946), ''Amar Bh ...

studio. In the times before TV and radio, movie promotion was highly dependent on the appealing colourful posters by Kamble and his posters were successful and highly appreciated all over India. Kamble painted movie posters for hit films including

Do Aankhen Barah Haath ''Do Aankhen Barah Haath'' () is a 1957 Indian Hindi-language drama film directed by V. Shantaram, who also starred. It is considered to be one of the classics of Hindi cinema and is based on humanistic psychology. It won a Silver Bear at the 8 ...

(for which he produced a 350-ft banner at Bombay's Opera House in 1957),

Amar Bhoopali ''Amar Bhoopali'' (English: ''The Immortal Song'', French: ''Le Chant Immortel'') is a 1951 Indian Marathi language film, produced and directed by V. Shantaram and written by Vishram Bedekar. It is a true story about a simple cow herder who ha ...

Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje () is a 1955 Indian Hindi-language dance film directed by V. Shantaram. It stars Shantaram's wife Sandhya and dancer Gopi Krishna in lead roles. One of the earlier Technicolor films made in India, the film won the All India Certificate of M ...

Navrang Navrang is a 1959 Indian Hindi-language film co-written and directed by V. Shantaram. The film is noted for its dance sequences with lead actress Sandhya and music by C. Ramchandra, while playback singer Mahendra Kapoor made his singing debut ...

Shakuntala Shakuntala () is a heroine in ancient Indian literature, best known for her portrayal in the ancient Sanskrit play '' Abhijnanashakuntalam'' (The Recognition of Shakuntala), written by the classical poet Kalidasa in the 4th or 5th century AD ...

Apna Desh ''Apna Desh'' () is a 1972 Indian Hindi-language action drama film, produced by A.V. Subramaniam and T.M.Kittu and directed by Jambu. The film stars Rajesh Khanna, Mumtaz, Om Prakash, Jagdeep, Mukkamala, Madan Puri and the credited Roja Ram ...

, Sehra,

Toofan Aur Deeya ''Toofan Aur Deeya (Storm and Lamp)'' is a 1956 Bollywood film directed by Prabhat Kumar and starring Satish Vyas, Nanda, Rajendra Kumar, Vatsala Deshmukh, Shanta Kumari, Krishna Kumar, Keshavrao Date, and Ulhas. Plot The film depicts a per ...

, Bhakticha Mala, and

Geet Gaya Patharon Ne ''Geet Gaya Patharon Ne'' () is a 1964 Hindi-language drama film, produced and directed by V. Shantaram on V. Shantaram Productions banner. Starring Jeetendra, Rajshree which were first marked debut to both of them and music is composed by R ...

. He was also responsible for painting posters for the iconic Hindi movie

Mughal-e-Azam ''Mughal-e-Azam'' () is a 1960 Indian Epic film, epic historical drama film produced and directed by K. Asif. Starring Prithviraj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar, Madhubala, and Durga Khote, it follows the love affair between Mughal Empire, Mughal Prince ...

Portraits

After some time in movie industry, Kamble turned his focus to drawing personal portraits of prominent people. Kamble's portrait of

Chhatrapati Shivaji Shivaji I (Shivaji Shahaji Bhonsale, ; 19 February 1630 – 3 April 1680) was an Indian ruler and a member of the Bhonsle dynasty. Shivaji carved out his own independent kingdom from the Sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the ...

was accepted by the government of Maharashtra as the official portrait in the 1970s, but he received flak from reformer

Madhavrao Bagal Madhavrao Khanderao Bagal (28 May 1895 – 6 March 1986), also called Bhai Madhavrao Bagal, was a noted writer, artist, journalist, social reformer, political activist, orator and freedom fighter from Kolhapur. Early life He was born on 28 ...

for asserting that his portrait of Shivaji was based upon a divine vision. His portrait of

Shahu of Kolhapur Shahu (also known as Chhatrapati Rajarshi Shahu, Shahu IV, Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj) (26 June 1874 – 6 May 1922) of the Bhonsle dynasty of Marathas was a Raja (reign. 1894 – 1900) and the first Maharaja (1900–1922) of the Indian princ ...

was utilized to recreate the likeness for commemorative postal stamp in 1979. He painted prominent social reformers and politicians

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokamānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence ...

Jyotirao Phule Jyotirao Phule (11 April 1827 – 28 November 1890), also known as Jyotiba Phule, was an Indian social activist, businessman, anti-caste social reformer and writer from Maharashtra. His work extended to many fields, including eradication of ...

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

B. R. Ambedkar Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Bhīmrāo Rāmjī Āmbēḍkar; 14 April 1891 – 6 December 1956) was an Indian jurist, economist, social reformer and political leader who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India based on t ...

JFK John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until Assassination of John F. Kennedy, his assassination in 1963. He was the first Catholic Chur ...

Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...

Atal Bihari Vajpayee Atal Bihari Vajpayee (25 December 1924 – 16 August 2018) was an Indian poet, writer and statesman who served as the prime minister of India, first for a term of 13 days in 1996, then for a period of 13 months from 1998 ...

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar (; born Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is considered to be one of the greatest and most influential singers of the Indian subcontinent. He ...

. Some of his paintings are on permanent display in the ''Kailashgarhchi Sawari Mandir (temple)'' in Kolhapur.

Selected works

*Posters:

(1956),

(1957), Son of India (1962), May Bahini (Marathi, 1952), Maharani Yesubai (Marathi, 1954), Tambdi Maati (Marathi, 1969) *Banners:

Roti Roti is a round flatbread originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is commonly consumed in many South Asian, Southeast Asian, Caribbean, East African, and Southeast African countries. It is made from stoneground whole-wheat flour, kno ...

(1942),

(1955),

(1959), Rajkamal Kalamandir's production Dr. Kotnis Ki Amar Kahani (1946) *Cinema Displays:

(1943) at the Swastik Cinema, Lamington Road in Mumbai, Do Aankhen Barah Haath (1957) at

Opera House An opera house is a theater building used for performances of opera. Like many theaters, it usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, backstage facilities for costumes and building sets, as well as offices for the institut ...

, Mughal-e-Azam (1960) at

Maratha Mandir Maratha Mandir is a cinema hall located in Maratha Mandir Marg, Reserve Bank of India Staff Quarters Byculla, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Maratha Mandir was opened on 16 October 1945 and has 1000 seats. In the 1960s and 1970s, Maratha Mandir w ...

. *Booklet Art:

Subah Ka Tara ''Subah Ka Tara'' (The Morning Star) is a 1954 Hindi social romantic film directed by V. Shantaram. The film was produced by Rajkamal Kalamandir and had story and dialogues by Shams Lucknavi. The director of photography was G. Balkrishna. It had ...

(1954); Marathi films Shilanganache Sone (1949), Shiva Ramoshi (1951).

Death

Kamble died on 21 July 2002. A Kolhapur street near his house was named after him. In 2013, his descendants announced they were planning to erect an art gallery to showcase his work and requested financial support from the government.

References

External links

Photos of G. Kamble and some of his paintings
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamble, G. Painters from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian painters Indian portrait painters Indian male painters 1918 births 2002 deaths People from Kolhapur Marathi people 20th-century Indian male artists