THE CATALYST Rudolf Von Leyden And India’s Artistic
Awakening by Reema Desai Gehi
Open any book on modern Indian art of the 20th century and the name of Rudolf von Leyden will leap out. Along with him there are two others, Walter Langhammer and Emanuel Schlesinger, who arrive a little later in pre-War Bombay, fellow exiles fleeing the Armageddon of Nazi Germany.
Linked by their common passion for art, they would become the troika scouring the bylanes of the city’s art district in the Fort area and collecting and mentoring a young generation of artists alight with the flame of what they knew would be the avant garde of the New India still waiting to emerge from its colonial undercurrents. One may take exception to the sub-title. However prescient and powerful Rudolf von Leyden may have been as a catalyst, he was only one of the persons sounding the clarion call to Indian artists of that generation.
Never mind. The fact remains that after aspiring to be a geologist and landing in Bombay, Rudi, as the author calls him, found himself writing art reviews instead. When he began his career in the advertising section of The Times of India, he found himself with enough time to trawl the art shows at the famed Taj Mahal Hotel and some of the other downtown venues for art. When in the latter phase of his life he joined the corporate world at Volkart Brothers, he continued to have a toe in the advertising world.
Esta historia es de la edición May 27, 2024 de India Today.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición May 27, 2024 de India Today.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
THE AGE OF INFLUENCERS
A TRIBE OF YOUNG, EDUCATED INTERNET WARRIORS IS SHAPING PUBLIC OPINION WITH CURATED VIDEOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Scoring a Century
Manoj Bajpayee has just acted in his 100th project-Bhaiyya Ji
FRAGMENTED RUINS
A new exhibition at Gallery XXL, Mumbai juxtaposes the artworks of an Indian and a Spanish artist
United by Art
Moments in Collapse, SAHMAT's group exhibition at Jawahar Bhawan in Delhi brings together artworks with politically charged themes
In Her Mother's Voice
Vidya Vox's exuberant new EP, Sundari, is primarily in Tamil as a tribute to her mother
"MURDER, HE WROTE"
Ashutosh Rana and Vijay Raaz shine in JioCinema's Murder in Mahim, a web series based on Jerry Pinto's layered crime novel
FLAGRANT VIOLATIONS
Gujarat sees another major tragedy as businesses flout safety norms and officials look away. This time it's 33 lives lost in a blaze at a gaming zone
THWARTED FRANCHISE
Robertsganj, on the southeastern tip of Uttar Pradesh, is a study in how a coalition of other castes often defeats the aspirations of the majority caste among Dalits-in constituencies reserved for the Scheduled Castes
THE LAST FRONTIER
PURVANCHAL HOSTS THE BIGGEST STAR CANDIDATE IN INDIA: NARENDRA MODI IN VARANASI. THAT MAY BE A NO-CONTEST, BUT CRAFTY CASTE PLAY BY THE SP-CONGRESS POSES A CHALLENGE IN THE OTHER DOZEN SEATS
THE FIGHT FOR POLITICAL CAPITAL
Leading the campaign as non-playing captains or taking the electoral field themselves, a whole range of political players exemplify the churn that Punjab's politics is going through