Abirpothi

On This Day

Two decades ago, the world lost painter Francis Bacon on this day

April 28, On This Day   Irish-born British painter Francis Bacon, a giant of contemporary art with his unique raw style, unsettling portraits and triptychs, passed away 20 years ago today, on April 28, 1992.   He often focused on a single motif for sustained periods, and his output can be broadly systematically broken up […]

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Dots and dashes are not all Samuel Morse is associated with, he was a painter too

April 27, On This Day American inventor and painter Samuel Morse, born April 27, 1791, is best known for contributing to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs, and being the co-developer of the Morse code that helped develop commercial use of telegraphy.   But Morse was also a portrait painter,

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The female powerhouse of Iraqi contemporary art: Naziha Salim gets a Google Doodle dedication

On This Day, April 23    She was described by former Iraq president Jalal Talabani (1933-2017) as “the first Iraqi woman who anchored the pillars of Iraqi contemporary art”.   Naziha Salim — an Iraqi artist, educator and author — has the Google Doodle on April 23, 2022, dedicated to her.   Not a great

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From witnessing 3 Partitions to teaching art to 3 generations: BC Sanyal’s legacy is immense

April 22, On This Day He is known as the doyen of modernism in Indian art, and was a guru to three generations of artists. Interestingly, he also witnessed the partition of the Indian subcontinent three times — in 1905, 1947 and 1971 — and also watched 20th century Indian art through all its phases.

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His was one of the most expensive artworks in WTC to be lost in 9/11: Joan Miró was born today

April 20, On This Day Surrealist, Fauvist, Expressionist — this Spanish painter, sculptor and ceramicist wore many-a-hat, but his work was ever redefining tropes at every turn and politically charged through most of his life. Joan Miró was born on April 20, 1893, in Barcelona.  It is written that he “was notable for his interest

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A unique visionary of still-life and nudes: The less-remembered Progressive Artist, KH Ara

April 16, On This Day   He was born into penury on April 16, 1914, and passed away at the age of 71 in June 1985, also in relative poverty.   But in between, artist Krishnaji Howlaji Ara or KH Ara, an integral member of the Progressive Artists’ Group (PAG) in Bombay, left behind a

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On the Renaissance Man’s 570th birthday, we present The Da Vinci Ode!

April 15, On This Day  Leonardo da Vinci, painter, draftsman, sculptor, architect, and engineer whose skill and intelligence — perhaps more than that of any other figure — epitomised the Renaissance humanist ideal, was born on April 15, 1452, exactly 570 years ago from today. One of the most famous artists of all time, he

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John Singer Sargent, his landscapes, and his controversial portrait of Madame X

The leading portrait painter of his generation, John Singer Sargent is remembered on 14th April on his death anniversary. He died in 1925 and left behind a legacy of around 900 oil paintings, more than 2000 watercolours, numerous sketches and charcoal drawings. Although he was popular among art lovers as a portraitist, he was also

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Jamini Roy: The celebrated modernist who brought \’India\’ to art by Indians

April 11, On This Day    Did you know that renowned Bengali artist Jamini Roy’s magnum opus, the ‘Ramayana’ (1946), is spread across 17 canvases (106×76 cm), characterized by decorative flowers, landscape, birds and animals typical of the Bengal School of Art, drawn with simple, bold and roundish lines initially derived from clay images? His

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Remembering Victor Vasarely, the father of optical art on his birth anniversary

A Hungarian French artist, Victor Vasarely considered to be the father of the Optical Art movement was born on April 9, 1906. He distinguished himself from contemporary art with the creation of optical art. Through his art, the artist created compelling illusions of spatial depth, utilizing geometric shapes and colourful graphics as seen in his

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