A Great Friend of India: Robert Skelton (1929-2022)
by Gulammohammed Sheikh I came to know Robert Skelton when I was a student at the Royal College of Art (RCA) in London between 1963 and 1966. The Painting School of the RCA in those days was situated on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, next door to the left flank of the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A). Robert was
read more Some Regional Graphic Centres: Baroda
by Gulammohammed Sheikh Published in Lalit Kala Contemporary, Issue 31, 1981, pp. 34-37.
Most urban art activity being exhibition oriented, its appeal remains exclusive to a small social milieu that frequent the exhibitions with the result that a vast majority of people remain completely uninformed about
read more Ravi Varma’s lay appeal
by Gulammohammed Sheikh Baroda played a crucial role in the career of Raja Ravi Varma. The rare honour of being a state guest at the investiture ceremony of the Maharaja Sayaji Rao III in 1881 must have given a sense of recognition to the artist who faced virtual banishment from his home state, Travancore. In Baroda he was
read more Letters by Gulammohammed Sheikh to Krishen Khanna
by Gulammohammed Sheikh Dated: 22nd July 1969
My dear Krishen,
. . . Geeta’s thesis has some interesting points (given only read one of the papers!) in which she discards the hegemony of European attitude over us. She has bravely criticised the attitudes and operations in the world of art that has put Western
read more Returning Home (II)
by Gulammohammed Sheikh In the afternoon when everyone was resting I would go to dada’s old room and sit there by myself. Sometimes I would write odd scraps or make pictures. In the midst of this activity there would be several pauses, during which my gaze would slowly fix itself on the wall rising outside the
read more Returning Home (II)
by Gulammohammed Sheikh Just outside the College of Fine Arts where I go to teach I have seen for the past three months an old adivasi woman sitting on the rough path by the gate. Someone said that because of the famine her son-in-law brought her here and left her. The old woman hears and understands little and her name and
read more Returning Home (I)
by Gulammohammed Sheikh Long absences past, returning home...to have my feet sprout roots, implant them in old earth. And no respite without it; but where is home, where do I go? Returning to Kathiawar, with thoughts clinging to me like creepers.
Dawn: Viramgam, where the trains change. Memories of this air, this land
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