From Ajanta To Abstraction

A recent exhibition in the city traces the artistic evolution of veteran artist Ganesh Haloi—from early figurative works in Ajanta to lyrical abstraction

- 

AT Akar Prakar Gallery in Delhi, paintings of stylised Ajanta's ancient frescoes-narratives of events from the lives of the Buddha, the Jatakasadorn the walls. These paintings are reproductions of Ajanta cave murals by veteran artist Ganesh Haloi, who was assigned by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 1957 to replicate the frescoes. Over the next seven years (1957-1963), he recreated them, capturing their essence and preserving their pictorial structure.

Among the works exhibited in the exhibition 'Figure-ing Out: The Ajanta Project and Now', is the tale of a golden goose king caught in a snare, nursed back to health by a repentant hunter from Mahahamsa Jataka. Other works depict murals based on the Vessantara Jataka and Mahajanaka Jataka. These paintings remained in Haloi's personal collection for over 60 years. "They haven't seen the light of day until this exhibition," says Siddhi Shailendra, the curator of the gallery.

Ajanta murals