Artist practitioners of this art belonged to the ‘patua’ class of rural Bengal which specialized in painting clay figures, dolls and scroll pictures of Hindu epics and local legends. Kalighat paintings came about in the nineteenth century when artists realized that there was an emerging market for what came to be known as ‘souvenir paintings’ among the poor pilgrims who visited the Kalighat temple.

Bhaskar Chitrakar

He is one of the handfuls of surviving Kalighat painters who are trying to modernize this art form through the strokes of his brushes as well as introducing surprising elements into familiar images. Combining classic Indian Kalighat style painting with traditional and contemporary patterns, our collaboration explores two classics – the indian horse and cat. Regarded as a priced possession of the Indian royal families, polo enthusiasts and tongas on the street alike, the Indian horse is an iconic cultural agent of various indian art forms for centuries. The Cat with the fish in the mouth series is often interpreted as an illustration of a Bengali proverb. The composition suggests the cat is a satirical representation of a false ascetic who despite renouncing the world is unable to control its lust.