Ganesh Pyne

Famous for his small tempera paintings, rich in imagery and symbols, Ganesh Pyne (1937–2013) was one of the giants of Indian painters of modern India. So much so that he was described as “an artist’s artist, a philosopher’s philosopher and master fantasist of them all.” Ganesh Pyne acknowledged the influence of great painters like Abanindranath Tagore, Hals Rembrandt and Paul Klee but he said that his exposure to Walt Disney’s cartoons and his own experience as a young animator in Calcutta finally liberated him and helped him develop two important stylistic features—distortion and exaggeration. He used these to explore the deep recesses of his fantastical imagination to create uncanny images of disquieting creatures. The artist drew his inspiration from Bengal’s rich storehouse of folklore and mythology, stories that his grandmother told him in his childhood. The painter blended romanticism, fantasy and free form and an inventive play of light and shade to create a world of “poetic surrealism”. In the Indian miniature tradition, Pyne’s paintings should be savoured deeply and at leisure. Ganesh Pyne has been widely exhibited across the world in London, South America, Europe, Singapore and U.S.A.