By- Dr. K.G. Srivastava

Ex- Viice Chancellor of Allahabad University

Former, Professor & Head,  English Department

The Tagore School of Painting, popularly known as Bengal School of Painting, occupies the most exalted position in the history of modern Indian art. Late Sri Kshitindra Nath Majumdar was one of the most brilliant luminaries of this school. Dr. Shyam Bihari Agrawal happened to be a disciple of Mr. Majumdar and thus naturally belongs to the school of painting from which his guru derived his sustenance. Dr. Agrawal is, in my view, one of those rare living painters who are enriching and extending the territories of the tradition of painting established by Abanindra Nath Tagore at the close of the 19th century with the explicit intention of giving lndianness to the Indian painting of the day which was growing increasingly slavish day by day to European School of painting. The paintings of Dr. Agrawal have a universal appeal and are capable of providing us aesthetic pleasure of a very high order by means of their suggestively and evocativeness, whether they are done in Basohli style, Mewar style or Kangra style or Bengal School which is a style of his heart’s desire.

Dr. Agrawal is a very unassuming, simple and humble person. He was born in a well-to-do family of Sirsa in Allahabad on the 1st of September, 1942. He manifested his extraordinary interest in aesthetics when he was barely 10 years old. He contributed poems, stories, cartoons and sketches to the Hindi daily ‘Bharat’ at a very early age. He used to take part in directing and acting out the plays organized by the boys of Sirsa during his boyhood. After passing out the Intermediate Examination in 1958 he came to seek admission to the Painting Department of Allahabad University. Here he came in contact with some artists of international fame such as Kshitindra Nath Majumdar and D.P. Dhulia who made tremendous impact on his young mind. Notwithstanding the fact that Agrawal got Diploma in Painting in 1960 itself, he continued to learn painting at the feet of Mr. Majumdar for two more years. It was during this period that the U. P. Government commissioned Mr. Majumdar to make a painting for the Legislative Assembly. This is entitled ‘The learning of Archery by Lava and Kush’. Dr. Agrawal helped his guru in the preparation of this oil painting. The guru was sbpleased with the help provided by his disciple that he gave him his brush and the residual oil colours (Winsor and Newton, England) with which Dr. Agrawal made several portraits and paintings later.

His teacher advised him to go to the Govt. College of Arts and Crafts, Lucknow and also gave him a letter of introduction addressed to Mr. Sudhir Khastgir, the then Principal of the College. However, Dr. Agrawal chose instead to receive higher training in painting at the alma mater of his guru, namely, the Govt. College of Art and Craft, Calcutta. This move of the young artist was much opposed by his parents. But regardless of all opposition, Dr. Agrawal managed to go to Calcutta. Another older disciple of Mr. Majumdar, Chintamani Kar, was the Principal of the Govt. College of Art and Craft, Calcutta at that time. So though as per rules of the College, a student, seeking admission there; was required to undergo a two-year preparatory course, Dr. Agrawal was admitted to the college without his having to undergo that course. Here, working under the supervision of some of the greatest artists of the time, Dr. Agrawal achieved a real excellence in his field. He made an extremely beautiful painting, entitled ‘Veni Gunthan’ in. Mewar Style, based on an episode in the Hindi poet Nanddasa’s Raspanchadhyayi. This won the Indu-Rakshita Award for the best Indian Painting of year in 1965. Among the teacher with whom Dr. Shyam Bihari worked at Calcutta, most notable names were those of Chintamani Kar, Sushil Sen, Indu Rakshit, Amulya Sengupta, Satyendra Nath Ghoshal, Kishori Roy, Hiren Das, Gopal Ghosh, Ajit Gupta, Sunil Kumar Paul and Ganesh Haloi. They were all praise for this elegant art works. Besides working in the traditional Indian styles, Dr. Agrawal also worked in Graphic art (etching, wood-cut, Lino-cut), life study, portrait, landscape, and sketching. He specialised in Fresco and Mural painting and also showed some interest in photography and sculpture. He used to make cartoons for the Hindi daily “Sanmarg”. During his sojourn in Calcutta, Dr. Shyam Bihari came in contact with the famous art-critic of the day Mr. G.C. Ganguli, who had a deep appreciation for the art-work of Dr. Agrawal.

After getting the Diploma in Painting from Calcutta, Dr. Agrawal came back to Allahabad where he organized a painting exhibition in 1967. The then Governor of Uttar Pradesh Dr. B. Gopala Reddi, had inaugurated this exhibition. The then Vice-Chancellor of Allahabad University, Mr. R.K. Nehru, paid a visit to this exhibition. Mr. Nehru became highly impressed by the paintings of Mr. Agrawal so much so that he invited him to join the Painting Department of the University in place of Mr. Majumdar who had retired in 1965. Since then Dr. Agrawal has been ceaselessly engaged in artistic pursuits, producing and propagating art-culture in the city of Allahabad. He has established an art-society called ‘Roop-Shilp Lalit Kala Sansthan’, Allahabad which is devoted to the service of art and art-criticism by organizing workshops, exhibitions, seminars and symposia.

Dr. Agrawal is a painter par excellence. His Professional maturity leaves no one in doubt about his artistic excellence. His brush work is vigorous and he has an excellent sense of colour-harmony-qualities that lend a sense of passion and power to his paintings. His art-works have a great evocative power and they captivate the hearts of the viewers by means of their magnificent workmanship, their imaginativeness of a very high order and above all their well-wrought symbolism. We can place all art works of Dr. Agrawal under the following heads:

1. Painting in Wash Style. The example of this kind of works are at the work ‘Shakuntala, ‘Towards the war field’, ‘Moon and the Wave’, ‘Milking’, ‘Unmadinee’ (insane), ‘At the well’, ‘Happy Family’, ‘Chaitanya’, ‘Saraswati’, ‘Radha & Shyam’ etc.

2. Painting in tempera style represented by his pictures called ‘Teacher and Disciple’, ‘A Bengali Marriage Scene’, ‘Winter Night’, ‘Flower study’, etc.

3. Mural and Fresco Painting typified by his works called ‘Innocent-Prisoner’ and ‘Dance of Gujarat’ ‘Folk Singer’, ‘Sarangi Player’ etc.

4. Graphic Art-works in all the three forms (i.e., Etching, Linocut and Woodcut). An example of his colour etching is provided by his work called’ Evening Lamp’ and’ The Yuksha of Meghdoot’. His wood cuts are represented by his works entitled ‘The Women Working on the Charkha’, ‘Shringar’ and his best Linocut is the work called ‘The Gardener’.

5. Modernist Paintings or Abstract Paintings such as ‘The Prisoner’, ‘Moon Gazer’, ‘The Lonely Lady’, ‘The Couple’ etc.

6. Portraits and Life-studies exampled by his pictures of Mahatma Gandhi, lawaharlal Nehru, Smt. Indira Gandhi and the rickshaw-driver etc. respectively.

7. Sculptures represented by his busts made with’plaster of Paris and such as the ‘The Newly Bathed’, Lady Lost in Thought’, ‘The Nude’ etc.

I would’ like now to discuss a few significant paintings of Dr. Agrawal which have impressed me very deeply.

The majority of the paintings of Dr. Agrawal are about the village life of India. In these works Dr. Agrawal has seized upon the typical activities of the rural folk and heightened their inherent sacredness and piety by tendering them in their best possible form.

The painting entitled ‘Gossip’ is case in point. In this painting three women presumably the newly married brides of a noble family, have gathered together and are engaged in tête-à-tête while at the same time one lady is doing the hair of the middle one. A teen-aged girl, in all probability, the nanad of the three brides, is depicted as peeping through a window, trying to overhear their intimate talk. The ladies are sitting on a mat or chatai on which they have displayed a mirror, a comb and a bowl containing oil. There is only one morha to sit on. This detail I believe has been provided at one level to show that the family is not quite affluent and at another to emphasize the unity of the hearts of three brides, sharing the same fate, may be the tyranny of their men. The ladies are all in a grave mood and appear to be discussing some serious family-affair. The painting is notable for its simple minimal details and for its powerful suggestion of the mood of the ladies and the eaves dropping by their sister-in-law.

Yet another very beautiful painting of this category is one which depicts village-women, drawing water from a well. The pitchers of brass, bronze and earth all have been very sensitively done. But another details of this painting in which, la (women is providing water to a thirsty passer by (clearly a Muslim) very picturesquely brings home’ to us the essential goodness of an average Indian Villager who does not make any distinction between man and man and is full of charity and compassion. The painting may also recall to one’s mind, the story connected with the thirteenth century Hindi poet- Amir Khusro, who had once been regaled by some women on a village-well and had composed a poem on their request.

The picture about the milking of a buffalo is very captivating and so is the one depicting some villagers, inhaling Ganza with one member of the party, lost in day-dreaming, as a result of the intoxicant he has consumed.

The picture of a beloved in separation from her lover and whining at night by the light of an earthen lamp is the very embodiment of Karuna or compassion. It is very moving depiction by any standard of judgment. The artist has been able’ to evoke the pathos of the lady in distress by means of the stark, drab and dull surrounding in which he has placed the lady. Her disheveled hair and her sorrowful face heighten the total effect of the picture and render it really poignant.

To conclude, Dr. Shyam Bihari Agrawal is a very sensitive, imaginative and skillful painter, sculptor and photographer, full of immense potentiality and capability. He is an eminent artist and be able to make his mark in the history of the fine art of India.