After India’s independence, a new form of modern Indian art emerged in Mumbai in the form of the Progressive Artists’ Group. While most members of this group were influenced by the art world of Paris, Mohan Samant and M. F. Husain developed their own artistic language inspired by Indian painting traditions.
Mohan Samant was born into a zamindar family in Mumbai. He graduated in 1952 from the Sir J. J. School of Arts. He received two of India’s most prestigious art awards—the Gold Medal from the Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta, and the Gold Medal from the Bombay Art Society. He worked in Italy for two years (1957–58) on a scholarship from the Italian government. Under the guidance of M. Palshikar, he studied the Basohli miniature painting tradition. In January 1959, he moved to New York on a Rockefeller grant. He passed away in New York in 2004.
In 1963, the renowned art historian and critic John Richardson included him among the 100 greatest artists in the world. Influenced by painters like Paul Klee and Picasso, Samant valued developing his own style and form. Although he was influenced by Western artists, he considered Indian artistic traditions more important. Samant once said, “You grow in what you keep creating continuously,” and “There are 25 different ways of painting, and when you stand before the canvas, 15 different forms can emerge. You do not repeat yourself.”
In the early 1950s, Samant joined the Progressive Artists’ Group (PAG). While his fellow members drew their primary inspiration from Paris, Samant explored imagery from Egyptian tomb paintings, the murals of Ajanta, and Rajput miniature paintings, establishing a series of primal images in his work. His deep study of Basohli miniature painting helped him develop a visual language in which Western techniques were visible externally, but the spirit of the paintings remained Indian. The influence of Cubism can be seen in his works, though he used it in a distinct way. His compositions show only a partial use of Cubism. He created Indian themes by applying Cubist structures sometimes to human figures and sometimes to compositional elements.
Samant settled permanently in New York in 1968. In an interview, he mentioned spending hours at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where he continued to find powerful symbols in the collection of cultural heritage from around the world. He described his art as somewhat like “installation art”—”The only difference is that my installation exists within the frame.” This approach shows a strong inspiration from the murals of Ajanta and Ellora, as his works often depict an expanded narrative around a theme. Instead of single figures, he preferred to create groups of figures.
From the beginning, Samant’s art involved combining multiple mediums. Along with merging decorative and abstract art, in the 1960s he experimented with textures by mixing sand and glue with paint. In the 1970s, he pasted pieces of paper onto canvas. In the 1980s, he began creating forms using wire, attaching them to the canvas to complete the artwork. In this way, he developed a unique mode of expression by integrating various materials. Abstraction appears both in the main forms and in the background of his works, making them multi-dimensional.
Samant was not only a painter but also deeply interested in music. The sarangi was his favourite instrument, which he practised regularly. In this context, he said, “I do not practise the sarangi. I play it every day as if I were performing in a concert—sometimes very good, sometimes very bad.” Similarly, he did not rehearse painting through drawing or sketching. He said, “I just paint, and if I don’t like it, I paint over the same canvas two or three times, or many times. I do not use drawing and sketching as preparation for painting; they are completely different works.” On May 18, 2003, he hosted an afternoon of music and art in his Manhattan studio, where he played Indian classical ragas on the sarangi surrounded by his paintings.
His major solo exhibitions include Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai (2000); Birla Academy of Art, Kolkata (1998); Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Mumbai (1997); Gallery B.A.I., New York (1994, 1995); Birthday Book, New York (1973 and 1975); Selected Artists Gallery, New York (1972); Pundole Gallery, Mumbai (1967); Gallery Chemould, Mumbai and Delhi (1966); Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai (1965, 1966); World House Galleries, New York (1961 and 1965); and the Rome Institute of Oriental Studies, Italy (1958).
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