Somnath Hore

Somnath Hore (1921-2006) is one of the pioneers of the 20th century modern art movement in India. He is respected not only as an important artist but also as a political activist, who has, over the years, boldly used his talents as a graphic artist and sculptor, to express his own personal angst against a socio-political system which breeds acts of violence. The most poignant and powerful statement made by Somnath Hore as an artist is his pulp print series called “Wounds”. It was the cataclysmic decade of the 1940’s, especially the Bengal Famine of 1943 which shaped and molded his consciousness as an artist. Somnath has often expressed concern over man’s inhumanity against man and blatant violation of human values – whether it be casteism, communalism, the frightful fallout from nuclear blasts and the society’s inability to preserve human dignity.