Prodosh Das Gupta (1912-1991)

Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, Contours & Volumes, 2012

Good overall condition. Green patina more pronounced than in catalogue illustration.
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Prodosh Das Gupta was the only sculptor among the five founding members of The Calcutta Group, a Modern Indian art movement founded in 1943 (pre-dating the Bombay Progressive Artists’ Group, founded in 1948) which also included Paritosh Sen, Gopal Ghose, Nirode Mazumdar and Zainul Abedin. The Calcutta Group based its field of inquiry on the nature of form and method, rather than laying importance on subject matter.

Executed just a year before his death, Aristocrats reduces two figures into a single rectangle. This composition allows the individuals to support one another: the lower portion, serving as the base of the sculpture, remains heavy and static in order to sustain the massive construction. The small ovoid heads sit self-assuredly on sturdy shoulders. Das Gupta fervently abided his belief that medium should shape the destiny of the sculpture: they are aristocrats because of the impression they project, not the features or ornaments they possess.