New Delhi, Oct 24 Celebrated Indian artist Anupam Sud’s six-decade artistic journey, spanning printmaking, painting and drawing, is being showcased in a major retrospective here, bringing together works that trace her evolution as one of the country’s foremost modern artists.
Titled “In the Etched Trace of Time: Six Decades of Anupam Sud”, the month-long exhibition, which opened on Saturday at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), is organised by the government-run art institution in collaboration with Dhoomimal Gallery.
It brings together seminal works from the collections of NGMA and Dhoomimal Gallery, offering an overview of Sud’s artistic evolution, from her formative years and early sketches to mature prints, paintings and increasingly layered works produced over subsequent decades.
Widely regarded as one of India’s foremost printmakers, Sud’s practice extends beyond the medium for which she is best known. While printmaking became central to her artistic identity, she continued to work in watercolours and oils.
The exhibition places particular emphasis on her paintings alongside her celebrated prints, presenting a comprehensive view of her engagement with different mediums.
“In the artistic journey of Anupam Sud, every etched line carries an echo of time, memory and the profound complexities of human existence.
“‘In the Etched Trace of Time: Six Decades of Anupam Sud’ is not merely a retrospective of six decades of artistic excellence, but a celebration of an enduring creative spirit that continues to enrich the narrative of Indian modernism,” Sanjeev Kishor Goutam, director general of NGMA, said in a statement.
A founding member of the radical printmaking collective ‘Group 8’, according to the organisers, Sud challenged established conventions in the Indian art world. Her mastery of the demanding techniques of intaglio printmaking also contributed to New Delhi’s emergence as an important centre for the medium.
The exhibition coincides with the 90th anniversary of Dhoomimal Gallery, established in 1936, highlighting the institution’s longstanding role in supporting and nurturing Indian artists.
“Today, when the art world speaks about identity, gender, displacement, and almost makes it all about the narrative and storytelling, Anupamji’s works do no such thing. They are complete in themselves.
“With immense power and strength, they talk about all these and more, but also how an artwork should, with strong lines, expressions, composition and without verbal intervention,” said Uday Jain, director of Dhoomimal Gallery.
Accompanying the exhibition is a two-volume publication documenting Sud’s life and artistic legacy, with the first tracing her journey through interviews by Amanpreet Singh and Archana Khare Ghose, and the second featuring essays by artists and scholars, including Rameshwar Broota, Ashok Vajpeyi, Yashodhara Dalmia and Ranbir Kaleka.
The exhibition will come to a close on November 24.
(PTI News)
