Really Illuminating lecture on Aesthetic Universals and the Neurology of Hindu Art by Dr Vilayanur S Ramachandran

It is a pleasure to watch some accomplished Indians speaking authoritatively on complex topics like the connection between neurology and art. Dr Ramachandran, born in Tamil Nadu in 1951 is a neuroscientist known for his work in the fields of behavioral neurology. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego.

Dr Ramachandran has generated many new ideas about the brain. He has been called "The Marco Polo of neuroscience" by Richard Dawkins and "the modern Paul Broca" by Eric Kandel. In 1997 Newsweek named him one of the "hundred most prominent people to watch" in the 21st century. In 2011 Time listed him as one of "the most influential people in the world" on the "Time 100" list.

Here is an interesting lecture by him on Aesthetic Universals and the Neurology of Hindu Art. Spend some time to watch this and it will not be a waste of time if you are an art enthusiast.

Avinash Manekar: :Pleasant Paintings in Simple Compositiions

Avinash Manekar is an artist from Maharashtra. His paintings are notable for its use of bright colors and simple but elegant figures. He avoids extreme details in order to focus on depicting moods and emotions. To me some of his paintings are really inspiring.

Rajeshwar Nyalapalli; Inspiring Figurative Paintings

Rajeshwar Nyalapalli is an artist from Andhra Pradesh. His figurative paintings in Acrylic and Watercolor are strikingly beautiful. It is evident from his style of figurative portrayal that he has drawn inspiration from some contemporary artists but he has incorporated some highly original aspects to it. It is a pleasure to draw inspiration from him.

Visit one of his online galleries here

Amrita Sher-Gil; Inspiring Artist for More than One Reason

Amrita Sher-Gil(1913-1941)was just 28 years when she died. She is often compared to Frida Kahlo. Born of a Sikh father and Hungarian Jewish mother, she started painting at a very early age. She went to Italy and Paris and came in contact with many European painters and drew inspiration from them and many others. Her first important work Young Girls made her an Associate of the Grand Salon in Paris, the youngest artist ever to achieve this.

Contemporary Indian artist Vivan Sundaram is the son of Amrita's sister Indira.

My Take on These Indian Artists

I would like to present my personal opinions about the art of the following artists here one by one. Read the coming posts and kindly post your comments.

Abanindranath Tagore
Amrita Shergill
Anjolie Ela Menon
B C Sanyal
Bikash Bhattacharjee
Binod Behari Mukherjee
Francis Newton Souza
Gaganendranath Tagore
Jamini Roy
Manjit Bawa
MF Hussain
Mukul Chandra Dey
Nandalal Bose
Raja Ravi Varma
Rabindranath Tagore
Rameshwar Broota
Satish Gujral
S H Raza
Tyeb Mehta

Some Indian Artists I Respect

Subrata Gangopadhyay
Jagannath Paul
Prakash Deshmukh
Anand Panchal
Sanatan Dinda
Subrata Das
S K Sirajuddin
The Singh Twins
(Not in the order of my respect :-)