Progressive Art Movement
Description
The Progressive Artists' Group (PAG), was a group of modern artists, mainly based in Bombay, from its formation in 1947. Though it lacked any particular style, there might be said to have been a move towards a synthesis of influences from Indian art history together with styles prevalent in Europe and North America during the first half of the 20th century, including Post-Impressionism, Cubism and Expressionism.
The Progressive Artists' Group (PAG) was formed by six founder members, F. N. Souza, S. H. Raza, M. F. Husain, K. H. Ara, H. A. Gade, and S. K. Bakre (the only sculptor in the group). Others, who later got associated with the group included Ram Kumar, Akbar Padamsee and Tyeb Mehta. Read more ↗
Key Artists
F. N. Souza
Fiery founder and leading manifesto writer of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group who combined fierce Expressionism, Iberian Romanesque art, and Goan Catholicism to revolt against academic Bengal School conventions.
M. F. Husain
Co-founding patriarch known as the 'Picasso of India' whose dynamic, modified Cubist lines and vibrant palettes depicted Indian mythological epics and rural life with modern freedom.
S. H. Raza
Co-founder and master colorist whose early Progressive period captured Indian cityscapes and expressionist landscapes before he moved to Paris in 1949 and evolved his geometric 'Bindu' philosophy.
K. H. Ara
Self-taught co-founder who rejected formal academic perspective, celebrating intuitive still lifes, vibrant flower arrangements, and working-class figures with earthy spontaneity.
H. A. Gade
Co-founder and scientific pioneer of Indian abstract expressionist landscape painting who applied mathematical perspective and intense color blocks to structure rural Indian villages.
S. K. Bakre
The sole sculptor among the six original founding members of the Progressive Artists' Group, creating bold, semi-abstract plaster and clay monuments that defied traditional academic realism.
Famous Artworks
Fun Facts
The six founding members of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group (Souza, Husain, Raza, Ara, Gade, and Bakre) came from dramatically diverse religious and social backgrounds - Christian, Muslim, and Hindu - deliberately uniting to reflect the pluralistic, secular ideals of newly independent India in 1947.
↗ Source: en.wikipedia.org
To earn a living while founding the Progressive Artists' Group and developing his modern Cubist style, M. F. Husain spent years painting giant Bollywood movie billboards by hand on scaffolding across the bustling streets of Bombay.
↗ Source: en.wikipedia.org