Autumn of the Patriarch

Eighty-five is an age when most artists would rather slow down,and pause their creative output. Not Gujral,who spent the last year overseeing a small army of workers mould the sculptures. This is his fourth solo in the last five years,and brings together his recurrent themes,including the confluence of various forms — human,animal and mechanical. The sculptures are in bronze and polymer; some have a steely,blue finish or the dull glow of brown. In all of them,men are entwined with machines and animals in a manner that suggests mutual enslavement. “The association between man and technology interests me. The relationship they share is fascinating,” he says. The clay moulds for the sculptures were made in Delhi,they were transported to a metal foundry in Aligarh. Forty-eight acrylics are also part of the show,and they recap themes that have appeared on Gujral’s canvases earlier — from cymbal players to a man restraining a bull by its horns. A fisherwoman sits comfortably under an umbrella,and in another work,a faint halo appears over a man,showing him in communion with the divine.

In his long career,Gujral has often reinvented himself. If,in 1956,he received the National Award for painting,in 1972 his sculptures fetched him the same honour. In 1983,the Belgian government honoured him with the Order of the Crown for designing the Belgian Embassy in New Delhi. “When I felt I had explored all possibilities with a (particular) medium,and was losing excitement,I shifted to another,” says the artist,who has worked in multiple mediums,including clay,ceramic,glass and metal.

Several times,a small observation,or a stray thought triggered the change. “I started to think about metal sculptures when I suddenly noticed cowbells with a rough texture,made of powdered scrap metal in hearths. I started doing burnt wood sculptures after a Lohri celebration. The changing texture and colours of burning cinders inspired me,” he says.

This is the first time he has worked in bronze and polymer. Is there challenge in working in different mediums? “There is struggle,but if one becomes content,it’s difficult to move forward as an artist..,The day I have nothing more to say,or nothing new to do,I’ll stop living,” he says.

Gujral’s next project is a museum that will showcase his work. Built on an 800-yard plot next to his residence in Delhi,the collection will comprise Gujral’s work from the time of Partition to his current series. “Discussions and lectures on art will also be organised. It’ll be a meeting place for all art lovers,” he says.

The Soloist

That the announcement of his museum comes at a time when SH Raza is working on an art museum on the outskirts of Delhi is coincidence,says Gujral,whose differences with the Progressive Artists Group have been much written about. In the 1940s,when most prominent artists based in Mumbai,from FN Souza to SH Raza and MF Husain,opted to work under the umbrella of the Progressive Artists Group,Gujral decided otherwise. His differences with Husain too are legion. He once reportedly told a Delhi journalist that there were two people of significance in the art scene: Husain and him. In his autobiography,A Brush with Life,this is what he had to say of Husain. “Only a very perceptive mind could detect that behind the facade of unassuming reticence was an extremely calculating mind.” But the animosity seems to have been forgotten. “He is living too far away in Qatar,” says Gujral.

Both artists,though,struggled during the same period. If Husain worked as a billboard painter in Mumbai in the ’40s,Gujral was a graphic designer in Punjab — a job he had taken up due to financial constraints,after Partition,when his family could no longer afford the fees at JJ School of Art,where he was studying. Eventually,though,he had to resign after a series of disagreements with his employees. “No one liked my work from the beginning,but things got more difficult because I designed a poster on black marketing and hoarding,with a face that happened to resemble an Akali leader. When he became a minister,he sent my file to the Public Service Commission and made things difficult for me. Eventually,I had to resign,” says Gujral. Soon he was to visit Mexico,where his interaction with Diego Rivera,and the sight of the monumental murals of Jose Orozco left a lasting impression. “Everyone wanted to go to Europe,but I always dreamt of Mexico,” he says.

The Gujrals

“Earlier,Kiran (wife) and Inder (brother and former Prime Minister IK Gujral) used to be my critics,now they have been joined by my children. If they reject a work,it never goes public,” says Gujral,pointing out that,in the current exhibition too,the consent of each member of the Gujral family has been taken. The family was also by his side when he wanted to use,and later remove,the cochlear implant that he had opted for in 1998,years after he lost his hearing at the age of nine. “The exercise of learning to identify different sounds left me with no time to paint. I asked myself if I wanted to be a ‘hearing person’ or a painter,” he says.

He remains extremely close to his brother Inder,and the two discuss everything,from politics to poetry. “He is god’s gift to me and my constant guide. He knew that with my hearing impairment,it would not be easy for me,and made sure that my self-confidence remained,” says Gujral. As a child,he used to accompany Inder,then a student at Lahore College,to gatherings. “I remember we used to attend poetry sessions by Faiz Ahmed Faiz. I read his work before it was published,thanks to Inder,who was his friend,” says Gujral. On his first foreign trip,too,the elder brother gave good advice.

Two days before he was to sail for Mexico on a scholarship,he typed out four pages of dos and don’ts on how to behave in a Western society. “You must clean the bathroom,he told me. People get angry if you drop water on the floor. He also told me to get a room without a bathroom because it was cheaper,” he says. “When I fell in love on board a ship and wanted to marry the girl,Inder wrote back to me saying,‘Romances developed on a ship don’t last the voyage.’ He was correct,I had already lost interest by the time I received his letter,” says Gujral.