Grassroot aesthetics

With the price of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's art having risen remarkably in the last nine years, author measures the artistic worth of the painter-politician

I first came across Mamata Banerjee's paintings in 2011. The media was abuzz with reviews and critiques of her artwork being showcased at Galerie 88 in Kolkata and I took a look out of curiosity. Blossoms of every hue and shape greeted the eye. Waves of blue dominated one canvas, while the other seemed to have erupted in a riot of orange and green. There was even a canvas peppered with black-and-white florets.

Flowers - rather, a profusion of flowers - dominated Banerjee's artwork between 2005 and 2011. "The consistent use of flowers shows focus and consistency. Upward strokes reflect optimism and the will to overcome challenges. Overall, the painting shows that the person sometimes demonstrates attention-seeking behaviour, is firm and sometimes argumentative, is goal-oriented and not easily diverted from aims," said a Mumbai-based psychologist in 2011. I had shared Banerjee's artwork with her [without revealing the artist's name] to draw out the painter-politician's aesthetic style.

The last three years have seen Banerjee add to her portfolio of motifs and themes. In her 2013-exhibition titled "Dreamer's Creation" that took place in Town Hall, Kolkata, one could see figures, animals, natural phenomenon and more reflected in her paintings. "The exhibits depict life and various shades of colors. This is symbolized by colorful flowers, blossoms, mother and child, fantasy, animals and rising sun. Flowers bring joy, hope and cheer. These emit positive vibes and energy," said Banerjee on her official Facebook page about the paintings on display.

Siddhartha Tagore, director of Delhi-based Art Konsult, feels that it is still very early to ascribe a style to her. "Right now, her style is very diverse. I feel, the more she paints, the more focused her style will become. At the moment, contemporary art is very relevant and the fact that she is socially aware of what's happening around reflects in her art," he says. Artists like Jogen Chowdhury believe that even though untrained, Banerjee brings a lot of passionate expression to her work. "She uses bold brushstrokes which add life to the paintings," he says.

Not only has her style evolved, but the commercial value of her works too has rocketed. A recent statement issued by her party, the Trinamool Congress, said: "The first such exhibition was held in 2005. Paintings were priced at Rs 10,000-Rs 20,000. The second exhibition was held in 2007. Paintings were priced at roughly Rs 100,000. [In the third exhibition in 2011] artworks apart, 127,000 picture postcards and 10,000 catalogues were sold at Galerie 88 in Kolkata. The paintings were priced by the organisers, Jago Bangla [the Trinamool mouthpiece], at Rs 2-3 lakh" These were donated by Banerjee to Jago Bangla, the proceeds of which went to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, Governor's Relief Fund and others - the money did not go to Banerjee's personal accounts. This statement came in the wake of news about a painting of hers supposedly having been sold for Rs 1.8 crore.

From Rs 10,000 to Rs 3 lakh and beyond in merely nine years - it's a phenomenon that has drawn gasps from curators and gallery owners, at least the ones who have seen her artwork and are not shy of commenting on it [it has never been more difficult to draw out comments on an artist's body of art; the reservations ranged from "I don't know enough about her art" to "This is a political story. I have family in Kolkata and don't wish to comment on it."]. Pooja Sood of Khoj Studios feels that such a landmark rise in commercial value doesn't happen to everyone. "But someone well known sells like this for excitement value," she says. In normal circumstances, an artist would need to appear in hundreds of group shows before being spotted by a gallery and being offered a solo show. "Look at someone like Subodh Gupta who struggled for 10 years before he started doing some kickass experimental stuff, like he did with cow dung at Khoj," she says.

Renu Modi, director of Delhi-based Gallery Espace, concurs. "Personally, I think it takes a lifetime for an artist to reach that level. I would give 10 years for an artist to establish a visual language and vocabulary. Look at the masters, it took decades for them to do it," she says.

At times the artist changes his or her style mid-career as well. For instance, Ram Kumar started out with figurativism and moved on to abstracts. The value of an artwork is then determined by various factors: how many of the artist's artworks are available in the market, what is the demand for them, maturity level of the artist, and the quality of the work. "Also, the value of an artist is reassessed every time he or she does a show. Having said that, only the Masters like S H Raza, M F Husain and Tyeb Mehta have sold for more than a crore so far," says Modi.

However, Tagore feels that it is not right to judge the commercial value of Banerjee's art. "Most of it must have been put up in charity auctions. She is known for her political career, and this is just something she does on the side. Even [former prime minister] VP Singh tried his hand at painting and some of his works were quite nice," says Tagore who bought an artwork by Singh for Rs 20,000 seven to eight years back. "So, let's not put Banerjee in the same sphere as regular artists as the dynamics at work are different," he says.