Ketan Mehta

Artists manipulate the various elements of art and mix them with
principles of design to compose a work of art

A black, long, rectangular box arrived from an MNC. The letter accompanying it said, “…it has been our constant endeavour to provide our members privileges and rewards carefully selected to complement their lifestyle. In line with this, it is my pleasure to present to you an exclusive limited edition print of a creation by one of the most celebrated contemporary Indian artists, M F Husain.” I could not wait to hold and feel a Husain. With hurried pace I opened the carefully packed serigraph, The Golden Horse. Unmistakably Husain.

To fully enjoy ‘the privileges and rewards carefully selected to complement your lifestyle’, we need to be able to appreciate art, and to do that, we must have the knowledge of the elements of art. They are the building blocks of any work of art. Artists manipulate these elements, mix them with principles of design and compose a work of art.

The principles of design are concepts used to organise or arrange the structural elements of a work of art. Again, the way in which these principles are applied affects the expressive content, or the message of the artwork. They are movement, balance, emphasis, proportion, rhythm and unity.
Movement is a way of combining elements to cause the viewer’s eye to move over the artwork from one point to another. Balance is the concept of visual equilibrium, and relates to our physical sense of balance. It is a reconciliation of opposing forces in a composition that results in visual stability. Successful compositions achieve balance in one of two ways: symmetrically or asymmetrically.

Balance in a three dimensional object is easy to understand; if balance isn't achieved, the object tips over. To understand balance in a two dimensional composition, we must use our imaginations to carry this three dimensional analogy forward to the flat surface.

Emphasis is also referred to as point of focus. It marks the locations in a composition, which most strongly draw the viewer’s attention. Usually there is a primary, or main, point of emphasis, with secondary emphasis on other parts of the composition. The emphasis is usually an interruption in the fundamental movement of the viewer’s eye through the composition, or a break in the rhythm. Proportion usually refers to the relative size and scale of the various elements in a design. The issue is the relationship between objects, or parts, of a whole.

This means that it is necessary to discuss proportion in terms of the context or standard used to determine proportions. Rhythm can be described as timed movement through space; an easy, connected path along which the eye follows a regular arrangement of shapes on the surface of the work of art. The presence of rhythm creates predictability and order in a composition. The parallels between rhythm in sound /music are very exact to the idea of rhythm in a visual composition. The difference is that the eyes rather than the ears sense the timed ‘beat’.

Unity is the underlying principle that summarises all of the principles and elements of design. It refers to the coherence of the whole, the sense that all of the parts are working together to achieve a common result; a harmony of all the parts.

Unity can be achieved through the effective and consistent use of any of the elements, but pattern – that is, underlying structure – is the most fundamental element for a strong sense of unity. Consistency of form and colour are also powerful tools that can pull a composition together. Knowledge of the principles of design and elements of art will empower you to understand ‘why’ you like or dislike a work of art.

Horses in motion
Now that I have started this New Year by acquiring (though as a gift) a Husain, let me tell you more about Maqbool Fida Husain and his series of 21 large canvases, which exploits the elements and principles of art to the fullest. Husain's line casts into motion his energised pictorial spaces; his brilliant colours envelop the space with symbolic and expressive values; and his distinct human forms transform the narrative on the painting surface into an intimate experience of poetry.

At the age of 93, he is, perhaps, India's best-known painter. During his long career as an artist, he has witnessed history as an active participant and observed the rapid deterioration of human values in all corners of the world. Through a series of 21 oil paintings, he has expressed this decline as a great loss. He terms it The Lost Continent.

Among the 21 paintings featured in this series, Empty Bowl at the Last Supper has broken the sales record for contemporary Indian art at US$2mn. The painting depicts a roughly hewn table held up by a devil and an angel at two ends, where sits Christ, a haloed figure with an open book in front of him, his torso shaped like a dove. On his left is a woman in robes and headgear, her hand cupping a candle. On his right, are an old bearded man and the imposing frame of an African woman. The focal point of this strange tableau is an empty white bowl. The famine in the bowl and the dominating presence of Africa, a continent repeatedly ravaged by hunger, is the artist's statement on the global politics of food. The empty bowl signifies betrayal.

Each canvas measures 6x7.5ft and was painted in oil. The works serve as windows into Husain's thoughts about lost human values. Recurring subjects from his earlier work can be found in this series, including the image of a child separated from, or abandoned by, his mother. Husain expressed this in A New Born Child Held Gently by a Fallen Leaf with the red, featureless face of a mother in the background.

Husain's use of horses in motion, that break free from the charioteer's control is depicted in Blind Horses and The Blue Charioteer is like a streak of white lightning consuming and dividing the pictorial space. In A Magician Dangles the Fortune Bird in a Cage, the bird in the cage is surrounded by a mosaic of riotous colour. The composition lures viewers into a terrain where play and uncertainty coexist.

The experience of viewing the canvases is like a journey through colour that blurs the specificity of time and place. The works were painted in a rented London apartment over a period of two months in 2005. The creation of these paintings took place 58 years after Husain, along with S H Raza, F N Souza, K H Ara, S K Bakre and H A Gade formed the Progressive Artists' Group in 1947.

In that pivotal year, India became independent and committed itself to eliminating British influence on modern Indian art. At that point in his development, Husain broke from the dominant British Academic School and worked to develop a unique style that combined the sensuous female form from the classical period of the Guptas; the strong colours of the Basohli period miniatures; and the motion of the Chinese painter, Xu Beihong (1895-1953), which influenced his use of horses in motion. These elements have come to characterise what is known as Husain's signature style.

Investing in Art
A recent announcement by The Security and Exchange Board of India about regularising the Art Funds is welcomed by Art Investors in general. A regulatory framework will only help the industry become more professional and institutionalised and will check the rampant price manipulation in the art market.

Art funds give you a chance to own a ‘square centimetre’ or a ‘square inch’ of famous canvases which are otherwise sold at staggering prices. An Art Fund works much like a mutual fund, the difference being that the former invests in art. The funds aim at investing in a diversified portfolio of select works by leading artists and providing investors the opportunity to profit from leveraging the fund’s pooled purchasing power.

Art funds are a fairly recent phenomenon in India and are cumulatively estimated to command US$75mn under management. Some of the art funds are Yatra Art Fund, Crayon Capital, Osians Art Fund, Copal Art Fund, Kotak India Art Fund, Religare’s Art Fund and ICICI Bank’s fund raised from Middle East investors.

Lastly, if you want to experience contemporary art first hand, Art Dubai is an event you don’t want to miss. Art Dubai has become a cornerstone of the Middle East’s booming art community. The 2008 fair will feature nearly 70 galleries from across the world. It will be held March 19-22 at The Madinat Arena situated within the Madinat Jumeirah Resort