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| Kathmandu, Sunday October 20, 2002 Kartik 03, 2059. |
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A
multi-dimensional personality
By Razen Manandhar
Rarely does God give
both a brush and a pen to one person. But here, he also gave zeal and mission to one man.
He is none other than Lain Singh Bangdel who passed away last week on the very auspicious
day of Vijaya Dashami.
He was born in
Darjeeling, India in 1924 in a lower-middle class family. After spending his school days
at Government High School of Darjeeling, a District Board Scholarship took him to
Government College of Arts and Crafts and from where he was graduated in 1945. But instead
of returning home, he stayed in Kolkota and tried his luck there. He worked for several
advertising agencies, was even sacked for being "incompetent". More than art
teachers, he was trained by struggles and failures that also encouraged him to set a goal
of his own.
His firm ambition to
become an artist inspired him to set off on a one-month-long voyage to London without a
single companion and then he moved to France, his ultimate destination in 1952. Since he
had no funding, a mountain of difficulties stood on his way. He lived in the outskirts, in
chilly rooms and he had to walk around the city to sell his early paintings in the
streets. For almost two decades, he lived truly as a struggling "artist" in
Paris and London, where he learned much more than the techniques of making strokes on
empty canvasses.
The dice was cast in
1961, when artist Bangdel had an opportunity to be introduced to His Late Majesty King
Mahendra. The Panchayat system was quite new, and King Mahendra was in search of
personalities, who could show Modern Nepal to the world from different angles. The
four-year old Royal Nepal Academy needed an artist to showcase Nepal’s art. Though
Nepal had been a treasure of art and architecture for millennia, and contemporary art had
entered Nepal much earlier than Bangdel was born, he was granted membership of the Academy
for being an artist by the King. Luck had it that his working place became Nepal, the
country his ancestors had left generations ago.
In the Panchayat
period, being a king-nominated member of the Academy was advantageous. His well-maintained
relation with the royal family as well as his expertise made him Vice Chancellor in 1974
and again the first non-royal chancellor in 1979, and worked as the head of the Academy
till 1989. He was fortunate to remain in the state-backed organisation of the scholars
during almost whole of the Panchayat period. He capitalised his power and expertise to
enhance his career. This period was also the most productive days of his life - a series
of painting exhibitions and book publications, followed by dozens of awards. Most of his
books were published from the Academy, whereas some were came out from abroad.
Jadadish Samsher Rana
and Genendra Bahadur Amatya had come up with abstract works here when Bangdel exhibited
his semi-abstract paintings at Saraswati Sadan, but his were more polished and had a
European outlook. Making a position in Nepal’s art arena, where most of the artists
were submissive, shy and unexposed to the western world, was not difficult for him. And he
became a spokesperson of the art activities of Nepal for at least three decades.
Bringing Nepal
Association of Fine Arts under the Academy’s umbrella (it is still a controversial
issue amongst some artists) and establishment of Nepal Art Council were Bangdel’s
another contributions. The Council was opened as a gallery to exhibit the replicas of
Western art, but it was later turned into a kind of art institution, with a building of
its own and regular government funding.
Bangdel’s ability
to understand the need of the time distinguished him from other artists. So the follower
of monarchy did not mind making portraits of BP Koirala and Ganeshman Singh after the
1990’s Popular Movement. Beside his God gifted talent, he had power, blessing from
the royals and talent of expression to retain the position he had in the city of art.
Nevertheless, the "deified" artist was reluctant to teach art in public. Instead
of teaching, he formed a group of half a dozen confident young artists who followed his
ism of painting. A group of artists, better known as New Artists’ Circle, are
following his path. Most of them were awarded in an art competition organised by the Nepal
Art Council some three years ago.
Bangdel was born to be
an artist but his contribution to Nepali literature is not less remarkable. He also made
his room there as a humanitarian novelist, a freak travelogue writer and an incisive
biographer. He had published ‘Bishwa Katha Sangraha’ before he left for London.
His stay in London, France and Spain helped him in his literary pursuit. Students of
literature today remember him for his books, mainly ‘Spain ko Samjhana’,
‘Muluk Bahira’, ‘Maitighar’, ‘Langadako Sathi’, ‘Bishwa
Ka Chha Mahan Kalakar’ and ‘Rembrandt’.
Similarly, Bangdel had
a deep knowledge of Nepal’s stone sculpture. He might never have imagined that the
small Kathmandu Valley is rich in ancient sculptures, some dating as early as the first
century BC. He, with his experience and tireless research, sought similarity between the
early sculptures of the valley and the Kushan-period sculpture of Northern India. His
diligent study and interpretation paved a new way for studying Nepal’s cultural
heritage. His research produced Prachin Nepali Murtikalako Itihas (1982), Ancient
Sculptures of Nepal (1982, India) Stolen Images of Nepal (1989) and Inventory of Stone
Sulptures of the Kathmandu Valley (1995) are some of his books. Among others, his
"Stolen Images of Nepal" is still a matchless gem for Nepali authors as it
contains pictures of hundreds of idols that have been stolen, as well as detached
pedestals. In the course of research, he had taken thousands of pictures of stone
sculptures from courtyards and shrines of the valley. The treasure of photographs, yet to
come out, is sure to make a history in the future.
Despite all this, he
was noted for his isolation from the Nepali artists’ circle. He was accused of
misusing his power, being undemocratic to juniors and favouring only his beloved ones.
Some even raise questions over the pictures of the stolen idols. Nonetheless, his
contributions to Nepali art, heritage and literature will be remembered forever, and it
will take time to fill the vacuum left by Bangdel’s demise.
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