I am happy to note that the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) Bengaluru is organising a retrospective of Rumale Chennabasaviah. The exhibition coincides with the birth centenary celebrations of the artist. Rumale was predominantly a landscape artist whose paintings of flowering trees, rivers and skies show not only skill and virtuosity, but his own inner vision.
The exhibition Varna Mythri: Rumale Chennabasaviah Centenary Retrospective 2011, with about 80 works, is the first major exhibition of the works of this very interesting artist. I am glad to note that the exhibition will also be on display in NGMA Delhi and Mumbai. Rumale's works are of universal appeal and exhibitions such as this will undoubtedly arouse interest in, and appreciation of, the works of artists from different parts of the country.
I congratulate the curator of the exhibition, Shri K. S. Srinivasa Murthy and the dedicated team at NGMA Bengaluru for organising this retrospective.
I am sure the exhibition will give pleasure to all those who visit it.
As Director of the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) Bengaluru I am proud and happy to host the centenary retrospective of the artist Rumale Chennabasaviah. The exhibition Varna Mythri: Rumale Chennabasaviah Centenary Retrospective 2011 is the first major exhibition of the works of the artist, consisting of about 80 paintings and drawings.
Rumale Chennabasaviah was born in the outskirts of Bangalore and lived most of his life in the city. He was interested in art from his early years and had formal training for a year in 1931. However, his early life was devoted almost completely to the freedom struggle and the great public causes of the time. It was only after the age of fifty that he could devote himself exclusively to art. He was mainly a self-taught artist and gave to art the same singleminded devotion that he had given to his earlier activities. A landscape artist, he painted the beautiful flowering trees, parks and gracious old buildings of the garden city as well the rivers and hills in different parts of Karnataka. However, he is not merely a regional artist since his paintings show not only skill and dexterity but an individual inner vision which gives his work a universal appeal.
The curator of the exhibition is K. S. Srinivasa Murthy, whose knowledge and enthusiasm are responsible for the success of the exhibition. Most of the works are from the collection of Sanjay M. Kabe at the Rumale Art Gallery and the rest are from the Venkatappa Art Gallery and various Government departments. I express my gratitude to those institutions which have lent their works for this exhibition, and particularly to Sanjay Kabe, who, as a boy, lived in the same house as Rumale and loves and reveres him. I also thank Jayadev and his team at Resource Communications Pvt. Ltd, for designing the publication.
I express my gratitude to the Ministry of Culture, headed by the Secretary, Jawhar Sircar. I also thank the Apex Committee members of NGMA Bengaluru, S. G. Vasudev, Balan Nambiar, Sheela Gowda and Ravikumar Kashi for their support and guidance.
I congratulate my colleagues and staff at NGMA Bengaluru for their enthusiasm and hard work all through the process of putting together this exhibition and the several outreach programmes that accompany it.
I welcome our viewers to enjoy the retrospective of this original and interesting artist.
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