A scene from Tagore?s Chandalika

The 80 paintings, drawings and graphics at the ?Tradition and Continuity in the Bengal School of Painting? show, at the Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Gol Park, arouses a sense of nostalgia.

Not just because there are a good many works by past masters like Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Satyendranath Bandyopadhyay, Benode Behari Mukherjee, Devi Prasad Roychowdhury, A. Perumal, Mukul Dey, Indra Dugar, Jamini Roy and others, but also because the works represent a world view and style of expression we once cherished as ?Indian? and ?Oriental?.

A blend of ancient Rajasthani and Mughal miniature, temple art, some strains of Japanese painting styles and hints of various Indian folk styles went into the ?school? Abanindranath began. Artists from all over India responded and went on to develop their own styles.

Abanindranath?s disciples in Bengal clung to the master?s style and it soon acquired the tag of ?traditional Bengal School?, recognised widely as a display of perfect technique and decorative forms depicting myths and legends. But there are many artists who have used the delicacy and depth of this blend of ancient styles to interpret the modern world and it is in them that we notice a continuity of the tradition.

The organisers of the show have, however, divided the selection in terms of age and experience. ?Tradition? comprises artists above 50 years of age and ?Continuity?, a group of final-year students from the Indian Painting section. ?We felt we had to do something to preserve the tradition. We often hear young artists complaining that their remuneration is paltry compared to the hours they spend perfecting the tradition. So, they switch to the more unbridled modern techniques,? said Bimal Sen, of Ramakrishna Mission.

Portraits, compositions of men and women at work, hills at sunset and through mists, familiar villages, mother and child groups, scenes from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Tagore?s dance dramas, gods and goddesses, flowers ? these are some of the subjects of the paintings (in wash, tempera and water colour on paper and silk), graphics and pen and ink drawings.

Among the participants were senior artists like Dhirendranath Brahma, Mrinal Kanti Das, Ajoy Kumar Ghosh, Ganesh Pyne, Amit Sarkar, Sankar Nath Aich, Ratan Acharya and others.

The show will be open from 11 am to 1pm and 2.30 pm to 6 pm daily, till May 6.