Art beyond canvas - why they painted what they painted

Thanks to the Greek influence as well as Hindu idolatry, a radical transformation happens in Indian style of art. Frozen moments are born.

The first flash of great art, the Ashoka pillar was subjected to a great vanishing act. It resurfaced as what it is, after almost a thousand years! How and why?

The earliest testimony of true artistic creation in the Indian subcontinent was the emblem of an empire that vanished from history for two thousand years! This episode is about that emblem.

In this episode we discuss about various aspects of the challenges women encounter as artists. Why? We also try to explore the root causes.

History says that creative geniuses in the field of art and literature had been a bit crazy in their ways. At times, such element of madness caused acute suffering to such personalities themselves. In this episode we discussed with psychologists as well as authors about the need or utility of modern psychiatric consultations for such outliers of creativity. Will the treatments damage them or enabl...

The survey conducted among several emerging artists brought our some interesting result about fear in a creative soul. Is it to be avoided? Is the artist or poet to be in perfect bliss all the time?

Creative legends are not born on a bed of roses. They walk through fire of adversities. Conventional rules of society do not fit their ways. Hence the ideal man or ideal woman format often is a misfit for them. They are not immune to anxieties and fear. In the quest for the unknown, they often break rules of life as perceived by the society. In this episode, several emerging artists of today had b...

This final episode of this season speaks about the tormenting yet thrilling life of Frida Kahlo and her twice married husband Diego Rivera.

It is the strange life of the Artistic genius Jackson Pollock who gave birth to Americal Absrtact expressionism but could not be saved from himself in the end!

Salvador Dali was a genius of rare order but cause of his fame was more from his outrageous publicity stunts. Listen to the story and be entertained!

Who were the DADA rebels? Why did they demolish the convention of the western world? Why they called themselves by the strange non-sensical word - DADA? And how did the DADA revolt led to surrealism? Did the Surrealism of Dali make any sense of it was mere visual illusion? How Freud was connected to the strange developments in art that changed the face of art for good?

This episode is about the pros and cons of abstract expression. How and why Wansley Kandinsky realized the magic of abstract expression? Moreover, how did he become famous despite painting in such inconceivable manner?

All masters do not secure the forefront of the pages of history. Some disappear only to be discovered much later or never to be found at all! Luck plays the trick, for both, the winners and the losers in the game of survival. There had been masters ahead of time when Picasso and Matisse were shaking the world, but they are still not known beyond the serious circle of art. Because they were the wro...

There had been artists as radical as Picasso or Matisse but people outside the art-circle hardly ever know about them. Why? What made them vanish from the pages of history. Perhaps pure bad luck...

Did the masters like Monet, Manet, Degas, Van Gogh make money out of their paintings? When we google their names, we find them described as famous artists. True. They became famous. But when? Their artworks turned worth multitude of millions of dollars. But did they earn even a living out their paintings? Of course, Picasso became rich. Matisse became famous in their lifetime. What was the mystery...

The most radical works that changed the course of art were done by artists who lived far from the mainstream of the impressionist movement. They pursued art in silence away from the fanfare. They never learned what was happening in the epicenter of the movement. But as in any field of creativity, in the realm of art too, outsiders play the gamechangers. It is peculiar, but it is the fact!

The impressionists wanted to paint truth on canvas. The real vision they encountered. Hard facts of life. No matter if ugly or bitter or ironic. The subjective version, not objective. But vision altered fast. And the impressionist-brush crisscrossed the canvas in blistering pace. Paints poured straight from the tubes. No time to mix paints. But how much truth can we face even if it is the time for...

French revolution killed thousands of people but opened the door for the modern era of art. Without a doomsday, no new beginning is possible.

Industrial revolution brought gigantic machines and created rich business magnets. But it also released art from the bondage of church. It made art a public affair. Industrial revolution made artists like Turner and Constable. The ever misunderstood notion of Constable being an impressionist haunts emerging artists even this day. The strange conflict between what Turner might have wanted to depict...

Baroque period had a unique quality of being direct and compelling. The Christian world was under radical transformation due to Protestant reformation by Martin Luther and counter-reformation of the Catholic church. The church set a new guideline for art. But a few artists like Caravaggio or Rubens emerged who obeyed and disobeyed the dictate at the same time. How?

When perfection is achieved, there is nothing else to do but to stay there. This was the challenge set by Leonardo and Michelangelo during renaissance. The period, that followed, caused plenty of struggle for the artists to shatter the conventions and traditions. It is an episode about the few great artists who crashed the jail of style during the mannerist period.

The masters of Renaissance did magic in art. True. But what was the motivational force behind that magic spell? Perhaps it was money and power, not pure passion for creation.

When the Egyptians were building the pyramids and the Greeks were building architectural marvels, the Vedic mystics in the east were intoning hymns. Why? Was it mere lethargy or something deeper?  

Roman rulers lived in anxiety. They feared for their lives all the time. They fought endless battles with internal and external enemies. To top it all, entered Christianity with its denial for likeness in art. Despite these challenges, the most important discovery happened during Roman period that changed art for good. 

The flag bearers of art after the Egyptians were the Greeks. But who were Greeks anyway? Did they do any different from the Egyptians? And what was the revolutionary change in the history of art during the Greek period? The meaning of portrait was not what we know today. But what was it?