R. B. Bhaskaran: Untitled

R. B. Bhaskaran made a name for himself in the south of India long before his eventual move to New Delhi (where he served as Chairman of the Lalit Kala Academy from 2002 through 2008). As a member of the Madras Art Movement during the 1960s, Bhaskaran was among the first to rebel against the idea of "nativism" as was advocated and espoused by K. C. S. Paniker. Similar to the way that the Progressive Artists Group in Bombay advocated an unfettered Indian Modernism in tune with international currents, Bhaskaran and the Madras Art Movement also argued that any "Indian-ness" in their work must arise naturally and instinctively, rather than being a consciously enforced practice of re-exploring, recycling, and reinventing Indian tradition.

Anyone following this blog may have already guessed that I have a fondness for cats. Works that feature the feline creature have already appeared: Tanujaa Rane's Cat (see July, 2010) and Jyoti Bhatt's Mother and Child (see February, 2009). But perhaps no other Indian artist has taken the beguiling mystery of the cat to heart as much as Bhaskaran. What is said to have started as a simple sketch of a stray cat that had somehow wandered into the artist's studio developed into a full-fledged series that became one of Bhaskaran's most recognizable (some would say it is his signature series).

It is of course easy to dismiss images of cats as too easily likable and pandering to a superficial and sickening taste for the "cute". But Bhaskaran's felines are more often than not thin, aloof, and bony...their eyes piercing, even haunted. For Bhaskaran the cat exemplifies enigma and even estrangement rather than cuddly likability.

The artist won India's National Award for Graphic Art in 1982, and perhaps this linocut demonstrates why he was chosen for that honour. Executed in 1989, the print is powerful in both line and composition. The squinting eyes of the face are suggested with simple but precise geometry, while serrated edges texture the elongated body with fur. The size of this print (it measures 47 x 68 cm) not only makes the black cat larger than life, it gives ample evidence of the strong possibilities inherent within the oft slighted medium of linocut.

Bhaskaran's black cat is a perfect example of the enormous strength monochromatic graphic composition can achieve. Its sophisticated use of positive and negative space, creative stylization and skillful line all add up to a work that catches the eye and holds it for long periods of viewing.