Independence transformed India in many ways. Some changes were visible, some subtle, says artist Ravi Paranjape, eminent illustrator, painter and a writer based in Pune, with over 55 years of illustrious artistic career. Born in 1935 in a culturally rich town of Belgaum, Paranjape belongs to an artistically-oriented family. He speaks to us ahead of his exhibition of calendar artwork in the city.
Post Independence, he says, there was an obvious air of accomplishment interlaced with bewilderment and anticipation in every sector from politics to lifestyle. Irrespective of an uncertain economic direction, an independent democratic nation of this scale was undoubtedly a burgeoning marketplace. “These changes reverberated in the field of advertising and visual arts as well,” says Paranjape who began his career as an illustrator. In those times, he says, an illustrator was supposed to know everything from making the stickers of medicine bottles to making big posters.
Calendars had caught on as one of the wiser ways to take products and companies to masses in the Western world and thus it was part of the illustration business. Calendars with imagery of Raja Ravi Varma were already popularised along with works of foreign artists in India. However, calendar art in modern India proliferated between 1960s and early 1990s.
“Around 1960, by cutting through heavy competition, I got to make the calendar for Glaxo, which was a big thing for me then,” he recalls, adding, “This was my opportunity to prove myself and I did receive much recognition after this. The calendar artwork for Glaxo received tremendous response from the company’s management as well as consumers. I became aware of the tough competition my artwork was weighed against only after being selected by Glaxo’s selection panel. Since then, I enjoyed illustrating for calendars for many years. I made sincere efforts to offer something unique while maintaining my own identity and class.”
Even today, we see calendars with timeless art adorning walls and desks. Calendars produced in India mostly showcased rich collection of works on various topics including mythology, history, landscapes, wildlife, many aspects of Indian culture or business-related special themes. Industry leaders like Air India, Cipla, Parle specially commissioned renowned artists or advertising agencies to produce artwork for their calendars. Calendar art began to be taken so seriously that prominent multinational companies held worldwide competitions to choose artwork for their calendars.
“It was at this time, around the early 1990s, that I got selected to represent India for an art event,” says Paranjape. Just like any respectable piece of fine art, calendar art demands the same level of dexterity, space organisation and conscious design sense above all, he believes.
Although the trade of making artworks specially for calendars has faded with time, its illustrious past is preserved by collectors and enthusiasts all over the world. The exhibition is an attempt to give people a glimpse of the golden era of calendar art in India.
In spite of having an enormously rewarding career as a commercial artist, Paranjape’s heart was set on his passion for painting without boundaries. He thus established himself as a painter too and set up a beautiful home studio in Pune in 1990. Moving to Pune also presented him an opportunity to relish his penchant for Hindustani classical music.
He later published a book called Shikhare Ranga Reshanchi, a series of short series on Western Renaissance painters who impacted the history of art. He later authored several books and articles on art as well as on political and social topics.
Through this exhibition, which is a first in Pune, he aims to take “calendar art to the masses and to young aspiring artists.”
ST READER SERVICE
A unique exhibition of calendar artworks by Ravi Paranjape will be held at The Ravi Paranjape Studio, Rutika Apartment, Model Colony, Shivajinagar from December 8 to 14, 11 am - 7 pm
