Tucked away at the ITC Maurya’s Towers is a triptych that is an evocation of the grand procession of Ashoka. It has a schema, an argument and an armature. It brings instruction, it brings delight, and it also brings a recall that is all too topical — the depth and grandeur of oil as a medium against the tepid, flat-toned acrylics. What more can we ask? Sanjay Bhattacharya’s commissioned work is a realist rendering of a leaf of Indian history.
“Hotels nowadays do not give such commissions,” says Sanjay in an exclusive chat with The Asian Age. Very much in the footsteps of his mentor Bikash Bhattacharya, Sanjay is India’s Caravaggio, who brings to his subject matter an immediacy and a physicality that is his alone. Descriptive verve and the school of stoicism vie for space.
Recreating history as an epic drama is indeed a feat of mammoth proportions. The people, the bejewelled elephant, and the sense of movement in the act of the genesis of a journey heralds the very nuance of sensory appeal. “Research itself was one aspect of this,” says Sanjay, adding “I looked through so many books to get an idea of the kind of jewellery worn at that time. What was even more interesting was the fact that the men wore single-piece heavy necklaces.’
To that extent, the art of Sanjay is a school of stoicism, even as he recreates Ashoka on the elephant with the orchestration of the gentry walking alongside. This work also has much to teach us about human life in all its magnificence, sense of management and the simplicity of human life. In these three paintings, dignity and valour engage until we end up thinking that they travel on a joint passport.
And the suave new general manager and vice-president north, of ITC Hotels, Ranvir Bhandari says: “The ITC has been a proud pioneer in the collection and display of the finer art. ITC Maurya reveals this aspect in a definitive manner.’
Ashoka here is a vast, all-seeing, all-feeling human being who has been flanked by many beautiful young men. The two slimmer works that complete the narrative represent the traditional notion of human nature and take us to the edge of an unacknowledged abyss. You think of the vision that looks at the promise of value in an exclusively commissioned work of art.
Ranvir reaffirms that ethos and says: “ITC-Welcomgroup became the first institution to take upon itself the role of an art patron. We commissioned a number of prominent painters and sculptors to bring alive different themes of the hotel. Visual literacy, or an understanding and appreciation of artwork, has always been an important factor, not only for art to flourish, but also for art to function effectively. Each piece has been hand picked to find a pride of place which lends stature to the Mauryan history and tradition.”
Sanjay has always had a great interest in compositions that combine the substance of a place rather than empty beauty. Whether he did watercolours or oils, it was the timbre of expressionism that always set apart his oils. He carried with him the love of a landscape and was able to fuse the precision of topographical drawing with Indianesque ideals of the sublime and picturesque as he approached the new subject matter he found on the Hooghly or the ramparts of Mumbai or even the rusty railings of a haveli in Daryaganj. What stands apart in this triptych is his virtuoso in technique — it has always been characterised by the balance of a soft matte finish, as well as the weaving in of a vibrant palette and a miniaturist attention to detail, where pattern of naturalism were more important than superficial whimsy. Rustic naturalism always vies with depth and gravity, no matter what his palette is.
The procession endures for its ability to tap a vein of nostalgia among colonial lovers and those of us who value the tenets of history. It also surfaces the curiosity among European travellers (both active and armchair), and pride among the Indian kings of yesteryear for victorious military campaigns in all its splendour. The classical style of composition and use of a camera obscura epicurean eye, ensures not just an unrivalled accuracy of the narrative, but it also facilitates the work’s influence on other spheres of Indian contemporary art. Lovers of art can find two unforgettable works at ITC Sonar in Kolkata as well as ITC Grand Central, Mumbai. “There are some places that you want to capture,” says Sanjay as he poses for a photograph. What arrests is the dogged sense of determination and devotion to the seriousness of creating a work of art that stands the test of time.