Bharti Dayal

Bharti Dayal

Bharti Dayal
Born 1961
Samastipur, Bihar, India
Nationality Indian
Occupation Painter
Years active From 1984
Known for Madhubani (Mithila) paintings

Bharti Dayal is an Indian artist specialising in Madhubani art, which originated in the region of Mithila in Bihar, India. She has played a significant role in the re-emergence and propagation of this art form. She is credited with contemporising the art form through the modern media of acrylic and canvas, and bringing Madhubani art into the realm of fine art, and not as a simplistic folk form alone. A winner of numerous honours and awards, including various state and Prestigious National awards, Dayal's paintings have been exhibited in the Museum of Sacred Art (MOSA) in Belgium, Wood Stock Festival Poland, Budapest International Fair,Festival of India Argentina, Frankfurt,Germany, The Nehru Centre in London and at the Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, West Indies by the High Commission of India and the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of cultural cooperation. Seven of her paintings are included in the book The New Bihar,Seven in Forms of Devotion and six paintings in Living Traditions in Indian Art.

Biography

Dayal was born in December 1961 in Samastipur[1] in the Darbhanga district of North Bihar which is the Mithila region famous for Madhubani painting. She had her initial higher education in science and she holds a Master of Science Degree (MSc).[1] Beginning from an young age, she learnt Madhubani painting from her mother and grandmother,[1] which she pursued as her professional activity from 1984, subsequent to her formal education in science. She has pursued this art form with vigour, making efforts to bring innovation in the traditional art practised in Mithila, and maintains her art studio in New Delhi. She has taken it upon herself to help other women artists from her region, guiding them to refine their work.[1]

Dayal has held numerous exhibitions of her work nationally and internationally. Her Madhubani art was the subject of a documentary shown on French television in 1995.[1] A show of her works in acrylic on canvas painted between June 2015 and June 2016 is organised by the Museum of Sacred Art (MOSA). Martin Gurvich, Director of MOSA, has observed: "Her mastery of the tradition and her capacity to bring it out in contemporary media like acrylic and canvas have made her an ambassador to the modern world of this ancient art of Mithila. She is in love with both the tradition and its themes".[2]

Dayal's seven Madhubani paintings, which are a combination of traditional art with contemporary modern subjects, are included in the book The New Bihar. Her illustration for the book's cover includes a girl riding a bicycle, symbolizing the "empowerment of women and the quest for education", and a fish, which denotes the theme of "rainbow agriculture", or the blending of agricultural pursuits to enhance rural income. Book authors N.K. Singh and Nicholas Stern have observed: "Bharti's use of the traditional style on contemporary themes can contribute to the revival of Madhubani art".[3]

Artistic style

What is unique in Dayal's work is the fact that she centers her art to heritage style and yet manages to create an entirely modern and contemporary work from it.Her work is Experimental and authentic. She uses both realism as well as abstractionism in her work with a lot of fantasy mixed in to both. In her paintings There are undercurrents of "love, longing, and peace"" in her renditions of Krishna and Radha.[1]

Dayal has given a contemporary cast to traditional Madhubani art by using modern media such as acrylic and canvas with natural, vegetable-based colours.[1]

Awards

Dayal is the recipient of many state, AIFACS, Millennium, and National Merit awards. She won India's National Award for excellence in handicrafts in 2006.[1]

Selected bibliography

Works by Dayal

Cover art

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Artists: Bharti Dayal (b. 1961)". Museum of Sacred Art. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Gurvich, Martin. "Exhibitions:Madhubani Art (Indian Art Series) – Bharti Dayal [June 2015 – June 2016]". Museum of Sacred Art. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  3. ↑ Singh & Stern 2013, p. 6.

Sources

Further reading

Bowman, Wayne. "Madhubani comes to Maraval". Trinidad Express, 24 January 2011.

External links

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