Centennial retrospective exhibition celebrates 100 years of four modern Indian masters

What's common about Francis Newton Souza, KG Subramanyan, Ram Kumar, and V.S. Gaitonde, apart from their long-standing reputation as four of India's greatest modern artists? The answer: They were all born in 1924.

- DR. PHILIPP ACKERMANN

And now, an extraordinary exhibition commemorating 100 years since the birth of these modern masters has opened at Triveni Kala Sangam, New Delhi. Titled "The Four: Celebrating the Birth Centenary of Four Modern Indian Masters", the vast retrospective provides a rare opportunity to engage with iconic works by Souza, Subrahmanyan, Kumar, and Gaitonde, who, though distinct in style and vision, collectively articulated a narrative of modernity deeply rooted in Indian culture and society.

It is organised by the Progressive Art Gallery, in collaboration with the Raza Foundation. The show is curated by eminent art historian and critic Yashodhara Dalmia, and was inaugurated by H.E. Dr. Philipp Ackermann, Ambassador of Germany to India on October 29, 2024. It is on public view till November 10, 2024.

As India strove to find the meaning of its new independent existence, the art of these masters reflected newfound curiosities and explorations, each coming from a different legacy.