Jyoti is a celebrated artist, best known for his work in painting, printmaking, and his photographic documentation of rural Indian culture and folk art. He studied art in North America and Europe before returning to India and founding the “Baroda School” of Indian art. His etchings, intaglios, and screen prints combine the traditional and the modern. His work is displayed in The Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Smithsonian in Washington D.C., The British Museum, London, and The Museum of Art & Photography, Bangalore. He was awarded the Padma Shri in India in 2019, the 1967 Gold Medal at the Biennale of Prints in Italy, and many other awards, including five Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Jyoti-Bhatt.jpg

Jyoti Bhatt

<h4
  id="h-jyoti-bhatt-is-a-celebrated-and-awarded-artist-best-known-for-his-work-in-painting-and-printmaking-as-well-as-his-photographic-accounts-of-rural-indian-culture-and-folk-art-he-and-his-colleagues-founded-the-baroda-school-of-indian-art-he-was-awarded-the-padma-shri-in-2019-and-has-been-honoured-with-5-lifetime-achievement-awards-in-august-2021-he-had-a-conversation-with-ananya-patel-musing-about-his-life-and-his-art-excerpts-from-that-conversation-are-presented-in-this-2-part-series-along-with-some-of-his-work"
>
  <strong
    ><span class="has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">JYOTI BHATT</span>
    is a celebrated and awarded artist, best known for his work in painting and
    printmaking, as well as his photographic accounts of rural Indian culture
    and folk art. He and his colleagues founded the “Baroda School” of Indian
    art. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2019, and has been honoured with 5
    Lifetime Achievement Awards. In August 2021 he had a conversation with
    <span style="color: #ff6900">ANANYA PATEL</span>,
    musing about his life and his art. Excerpts from that conversation are
    presented in this 2-part series, along with some of his work.</strong
  >
</h4>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<h3 class="has-text-align-center">AN ART ESSAY</h3>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
  I was born and grew up in a small town, you could say a large village. That
  was a long time ago, and as a child I had not even heard about Mickey Mouse or
  Humpty Dumpty. So, what I create is something I grew up with. It was only
  after moving to Baroda to study in a Fine Arts college that I learned about
  Western modern art. By “modern,” I mean what happened about 100 years ago.
  It’s an historical term. Modern is not contemporary anymore.
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
    <img
      alt="Beyond_Traditional_modern_1"
      class="has-img-center lazyload"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Beyond_Traditional_modern_1_3_72859c4f91.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T06:54:17.986Z"
    />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
    <img
      alt="Beyond_Traditional_modern"
      class="w-100 lazyload"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Beyond_Traditional_modern_1_4_f41bd10604.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T06:55:35.123Z"
    />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
    <img
      alt="Beyond_Traditional_modern"
      class="has-img-center lazyload"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Beyond_Traditional_modern_1_5_bce2ce49f8.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T06:58:15.502Z"
    />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
    <img
      alt="Beyond_Traditional_modern"
      class="has-img-center lazyload"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Beyond_Traditional_modern_1_2_de9de0a6ab.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T06:59:11.548Z"
    />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
  I also realized that what the modernists were doing, the reforms they were
  trying to make, were consciously taken from other artforms. This is especially
  true of Cubism. Picasso was inspired by African art, which was tribal.
</p>

<p>
  Similar traditional art is done by villagers and tribal people in India, along
  with many classical arts. My work became a combination because what was
  happening around the world also affected my work. But it was not like the
  Bengal school, or the revivalists, who wanted to do away with the British
  teachings and customs and go back to Ajanta or Mughal styles. I think any art
  is good art. And the divisions of India versus Europe, and the West versus the
  East, have been made for our own convenience and selfish interest.
</p>

<p>
  My photography is not really part of my “creative” work. I wanted to document
  things when I realized that our way of life was changing. And they had to
  change. We can’t expect them to remain the way they were 100 years ago or
  earlier. But at the same time, because of the influence of urbanization,
  earlier, nicer traditions started disappearing. I thought that I should
  photograph whatever was alive, because after a few years it wouldn’t be there.
  Archaeological specimens like the Taj Mahal or Qutub Minar are old. They
  survive because they are made with stronger materials. But almost all the
  material used for folk art is something locally available and impermanent.
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
    <img
      alt="Beyond_Traditional_modern"
      class="has-img-center lazyload"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Beyond_Traditional_modern_1_6_7fb52627ef.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T07:00:06.418Z"
    />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
    <img

      alt="Beyond_Traditional_modern"
      class="has-img-center lazyload"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Beyond_Traditional_modern_1_7_5039442016.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T07:01:04.374Z"
    />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
    <img
      
      alt="Beyond_Traditional_modern"
      class="has-img-center lazyload"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Beyond_Traditional_modern_1_8_f272b87b2f.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T07:02:55.713Z"
    />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
  When we take a blank canvas, we often start thinking of selling it, or winning
  a prize in a competition, or seeing it hang in a museum, or something like
  that. Folk art made me humble: If people can make art and live with it, I
  should also learn. They never complain about material – they don’t get good
  paper or canvas. Whatever is available is good enough for them and they are
  able to create and express themselves. Because of this, my attitude became
  more open to various materials. I do not stick to standard classical materials
  like oil paints and canvas. Recently I have been working with acrylic cut
  outs. The technology is now available in Baroda because many small industries
  have started helping artists.
</p>

<p>
  My idea or understanding of tradition is connected mostly with reasoning – why
  did they do something? And if we adopt it, how do we adapt it for ourselves?
</p>

<p>
  For example, while making a drawing of a figure or motif in the stylistic
  manner of a tribe in Chhota Udaipur, instead of copying I tried to think how
  that person might be thinking. It was a forced effort, but it allowed me to
  enjoy it much more. I hope that this has added to my visual vocabulary and way
  of working.
</p>

<p>
  A few things from village, tribal, and folk art started entering my work. But
  I have not deliberately tried to do this. I get ideas for paintings from
  anything that excites me. I had come across a magic square, a
  <em>chautisa yantra</em>, back when I was in school, and it kept reappearing
  to me. It’s a very simple four by four square using 1 to 6 in digits, and you
  arrange it in such a way that the columns, rows, and diagonals sum up to 34
  each time, in every configuration. In this way, I have made several paintings.
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
    <img
      alt="Beyond_Traditional_modern"
      class="has-img-center lazyload"
      src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/Beyond_Traditional_modern_1_9_5d9adbfefe.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-06T07:04:03.675Z"
    />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
  So I cannot say that there is Western, or Indian, or folk influence
  specifically. I noticed a <em>yantra</em> painted on the wall of a few village
  houses in Rajasthan, and I asked why. They said it’s a good omen. Then I asked
  a few more people about it. Then I read a book by a mathematician, where he
  explained how <em>yantras</em> are made, how their symmetry works. I thought
  this was a very good subject to try, because all I had to do was write those
  numbers but the visual form would be my own.
</p>

<p><em>To be continued.</em></p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center" id="h-interview-by-ananya-patel">
  Interview by ANANYA PATEL
</h4>

<hr />

Beyond traditional and modern

Art is an entrance

<h4>
  <strong><span style="color: #314fa2">JYOTI BHATT</span>
      is a celebrated and awarded artist, best known for his work in
      painting and printmaking, as well as his photographic accounts of
      rural Indian culture and folk art. He and his colleagues founded the
      “Baroda School” of Indian art. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 2019
      and has been honoured with 5 Lifetime Achievement Awards. In August
      2021 he had a conversation with
      <span style="color: #f0532a">ANANYA PATEL</span>, musing about his life and his art.
      Excerpts from that conversation
      are presented in this 2-part series, along with some of his
      work.</strong>
</h4>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<h2 class="has-text-align-center"><strong>AN ART ESSAY</strong></h2>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
      <img  width="415" height="462" alt="beyond-tradition-modern-part2-2" class="has-img-center lazyload"
          src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/beyond_tradition_modern_part2_2_d24f6560df.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:39:18.783Z" />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
  My wife Jyotsna inspired me from the beginning. I have been told that I
  have depicted her in all the female figures in my paintings and prints.
  This may not be 100% right, but there’s something to it. I was in New
  York on a Fulbright scholarship when I got a three-month grant to travel
  in the US. She came with me and we got married. It was in 1966. We had
  no idea how to run a family or anything. We learned to help each other.
  I would listen to what she had to say, and she would listen to me, but
  without any special or forced effort. It was a collaboration. The only
  thing was that work should continue.
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
      <img width="413" height="635" alt="beyond-tradition-modern-part2-3" class="has-img-center lazyload"
          src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/beyond_tradition_modern_part2_3_fbe45207b8.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:40:18.851Z" />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
  We then returned to Baroda, where I had a teaching job and she completed
  her post graduate diploma and started teaching. Very few of our
  brilliant female students got the opportunity to continue with their
  art, and I didn’t want her to worry about running the house.
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h5 class="has-text-align-center">
  <span style="color: #314fa2">We have to throw away something,<br />so it’s best to select
      something <br />that is best, or something that is important<br />enough
      to tell us about the past.</span>
</h5>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
      <img width="413" height="512" alt="beyond-tradition-modern-part2-4" class="has-img-center lazyload"
          src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/beyond_tradition_modern_part2_4_1_c252c070b7.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:42:44.752Z" />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
  When I was photographing I would go away for long periods, so she took
  all the responsibility of managing the home and looking after our
  daughter. I’m sure when I was away there were problems, but she never
  mentioned any of them to me. Often we think that not coming in the way
  of each other itself is a great help.
</p>

<p>
  If I say I am not worried about my work not lasting, then I am lying to
  myself. Naturally, if my work lasts it’s fine, but is it really
  necessary? If people go on creating more and more work, then it will
  grow and nature will be unable to bear our mistakes. We have to throw
  away something, so it’s best to select something that is best, or
  something that is important enough to tell us about the past.
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
      <img width="588" height="602" alt="beyond-tradition-modern-part2-5" class="has-img-center lazyload"
          src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/beyond_tradition_modern_part2_5_c35d5d42a4.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:43:47.495Z" />
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
  In Indian philosophy, we have three gods: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.
  Brahma’s duty is to create. Vishnu’s job is to look after the world
  created by Brahma, and Shiva has to destroy. Only then can the cycle
  continue. Many of our traditions, like Rangoli, have this same cycle.
  You make it every day, and in the evening you remove it. The next day
  you make a new one. The art object doesn’t last, but art lasts. I’ll be
  happy if my work inspires somebody to make art, instead of just
  preserving it. If it is preserved, subconsciously, I may like it,
  although I may not like to admit that.
</p>

<p>
  I have used written words in my work along with painted images. This is
  something I had seen in the embroidery in Saurashtra when I was young.
  They make two types of embroidery – one is decorative and the other is
  narrative. Ram, Lakshman, and Sita are depicted, but all the figures
  look alike, so they would write the names next to them. What they were
  unable to show visually, they would write. The same thing was done in
  miniature paintings in Rajasthan. Sometimes the script was even more
  important than the image. The same thing happened in Europe in Byzantine
  art and the Christian tradition.
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h5 class="has-text-align-center">
  <span style="color: #314fa2">The art object doesn’t last, but art lasts. <br />I’ll be
      happy if my
      work inspires somebody <br />to make art, instead of just<br />preserving
      it.</span>
</h5>

<hr />

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
      <img width="413" height="271" alt="beyond-tradition-modern-part2-6" class="has-img-center lazyload"
          src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/beyond_tradition_modern_part2_6_37ee1bb76d.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:44:25.612Z" />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
      <img width="413" height="307" alt="beyond-tradition-modern-part2-7" class="has-img-center lazyload"
          src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/beyond_tradition_modern_part2_7_de81ab22be.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:45:24.277Z" />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
      <img width="413" height="586" alt="beyond-tradition-modern-part2-8-1" class="has-img-center lazyload"
          src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/beyond_tradition_modern_part2_8_1_bf346c71df.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:48:10.859Z" />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
  I started doing the same thing; I would write names. Later, I realized
  that letters also have very interesting forms in calligraphy. So I
  started adding them as a visual element. If you are unable to read, you
  can still see, and it becomes part of the painting.
</p>

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
      <img width="464" height="367" alt="beyond-tradition-modern-part2-10" class="has-img-center lazyload"
          src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/beyond_tradition_modern_part2_10_c1433e1709.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:49:11.332Z" />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
  Then there is the influence of television and advertising. We might see
  news about an avalanche in the Himalayas showing up next to an ad for a
  restaurant – two odd things. The images that we see nowadays are mostly
  combinations of shapes and written text. So I also started adding that
  to my work. Whenever I was travelling, I would notice what was written
  on the back of rickshaws and trucks. It’s so fun!
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
      <img width="413" height="479" alt="beyond-tradition-modern-part2-9" class="has-img-center lazyload"
          src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/beyond_tradition_modern_part2_9_09feeabe5e.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:50:50.777Z"/>
          </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
  If I add a line like that to my own painting it may make you laugh a
  little, it may confuse you, or excite you to find out the meaning. On a
  rickshaw I once saw “Diwali” written in English and then in Hindi: “<em>mai hai Ali.</em>” Below it was “Ramzan”
  written again in English and then in Hindi:
  “<em>mai hai Ram</em>.”
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<div class="block-image">
  <figure>
      <img width="476" height="616" alt="beyond-tradition-modern-part2-11" class="has-img-center lazyload"
          src="https://cdn-prod-static.heartfulness.org/beyond_tradition_modern_part2_11_ee60e1d1de.jpg?updated_at=2023-04-07T06:51:55.090Z" />
  </figure>
</div>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<p>
  People give so many lectures about this, but this simple rickshaw driver
  had a better sense, that is very relevant to our present day problems.
  And I have used that line in many of my works, with no direct
  connection. If there was a nice space somewhere I would put it in.
</p>

<p>
  If some idea comes, I try to see if it works instead of debating
  beforehand whether it will work. Do it and see. Instead of why, I ask
  why not?
</p>

<hr class="vertical-space1" />

<hr />

<h4 class="has-text-align-center">
  Art by JYOTI BHATT<br />Interviewed by ANAYA PATEL
</h4>

<hr />

Jyoti Bhatt

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