Lyrical Landscapes: A Watercolour Journey into Memory and Nature

Lyrical Landscapes was more than an exhibition—it was an invitation to pause, breathe, and immerse oneself in the quiet poetry of rural India.

- RADHIKA VASHISHT

Gallerie Ganesha in Greater Kailash II recently hosted this evocative showcase of watercolours by Bengal-based artist Bikash Poddar, whose work speaks softly but stays long in the memory.

Each piece in Lyrical Landscapes revealed Poddar's ability to translate the spirit of a place into a visual melody. His paintings were neither overly dramatic nor grandiose—they whispered rather than shouted, drawing viewers into spaces filled with translucent light, faded structures, and the subtle presence of human life in harmony with nature.

With boats moored beside still waters, ruined temples overgrown with time, and silhouettes of figures moving through misty scenes, his compositions balanced delicacy with depth.

Born in 1954 in Kaliyaganj, North Bengal, Poddar carries a legacy rooted in tradition, yet expressed through innovation. Trained at the College of Art and Craft in Kolkata, where he graduated with a gold medal in Applied Art, he spent years in advertising before devoting himself fully to painting in the 1990s.

"My journey has been anything but linear, and I think that unpredictability has found its way into my art. Growing up in Kaliyaganj, surrounded by forests, ponds, and birds, I was always deeply connected to nature. Those early memories of walking alone through the jungle behind my house, listening to birdsong, observing the play of light through leaves, still echo in my work," he said.

Over the decades, he has honed a unique style that blends the intricacy of Indian miniature painting with the expressive fluidity of Chinese and Japanese calligraphy.

"Later, when I worked as a senior art director in advertising across Calcutta, Ahmedabad, and Delhi, I became sharply aware of quality, structure, and deadlines. But when computers sped everything up, I found myself losing that personal rhythm," he stated.