(Painting by Gond artist Venkat Raman Singh Shyam)
(A Gond artwork by artist Suresh Kumar Dhurve)
Though Gond art has been around for hundreds of years, it was only in the 1980’s that the art form gained much-deserved recognition and fame, through the discovery of Jangarh Singh Shyam, a Gond farmer and artist whose artworks received international acclaim and took him to New Delhi, New York, Paris and Tokyo for exhibitions and shows.
(Jangarh Singh Shyam (centre) with wife Nankusiya, and Indian painter J. Swaminathan. Image source: aaa.org.hk)
Shyam’s artistic brilliance was renowned. He was the first Gond artist to use acrylic on paper and canvas for his paintings, creating the school which is now known as ‘Jangarh Kalam’. His 1988 creation, Landscape gond painting with Spider, sold for $31,250 at a 2010 Sotheby’s auction, the first for an Adivasi artist.
(Landscape with Spider by Jangarh Singh Shyam, 1988. Image source: Sotheby’s)
(The interiors of the Madhya Pradesh Vidhan Sabha, painted by Jangarh Singh Shyam. Image source: jangarh-singh-shyam.blogspot.in)
Today, the late artist’s immediate and extended family members are renowned Gond artists themselves. Though trained by Jangarh Singh Shyam, each of these artists – Nankusiya Shyam (his wife), Japani Shyam and Mayank Shyam (his children) and other family members such as Venkat Singh Shyam, Subhash Vyam, Bhajju Shyam and Durga Bai, have their own distinct artistic styles, striving to keep their traditions alive.
(‘Swarn Hiran’ by Nankusiya Shyam, wife of Jangarh Singh Shyam)
(Gond painting by Jangarh Singh Shyam’s daughter, Japani Shyam)
(An artwork by renowned Gond artist Subhash Vyam)
(Sukhnandi Vyam Pardhan, nephew of Jangarh Singh Shyam, using acrylics on canvas to create a Gond painting. Source: Mid Day)
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