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Lot Essay
"In the fifties, M.F. Husain had made the very large painting Earth, which is fifty feet long in eleven sections, containing the symbols of the newly formed nation state. M.F. Husain described this work as expressing his impulse of wanting to be a filmmaker, but owing to the inaccessibility of finance at that time, he had to form the eleven sections like a film's storyboard. Subsequently, Films Division offered him the finance to make Through the Eyes of a Painter, extending the visual motifs of the paintings into the documentary format, liberating the medium. This was a move that paid off handsomely when M.F. Husain won the Golden Bear for the film at the Berlin Film Festival." (B. Gandhy, 'A Critic's View')
In 1954, Padmashri Jehangir Shapurji (Jean) Bhownagary joined the Indian Government Films Division as the Deputy Chief producer. He became a well-known name in the Indian film industry and was celebrated for being a great mentor. He was a good friend of Kekoo Gandhy and through this friendship was introduced to many young artists and filmakers including Husain. Bhownagary was instrumental in supporting Husain's vision for Through the Eyes of a Painter, in the film's programme, Bhownagary ellaborates:
"How did the well-known painter Husain come to make the film 'Through the eyes of a painter' which won the Golden Bear in Berlin? The Films Division now has a small budget for experimentation - whether it be with equipment or with film. One of the experiments I was most interested in was cross-fertilising talents to bring a painter and his way of seeing things into the Films Division [...] So I asked Husain whether he would like to make a film for the love of it. We would not be able to pay him much, not even as much as one of his canvases could fetch. But the Films Division could offer him film, a cameraman, a recordist, an editor, and the equipment that they use. Husain jumped at it. His first love had been films, he said. I remember how moved he was after seeing "Pather Panchali" and how his pen had immediately flowed into a series of drawings based on the inspiration he had received from Satyajit Ray's first film.
Oddly enough, he made two conditions: (1) that it should be in black and white and not in colour (2) that the sound should be as important as the visual. Husain is not the most verbose of men though he is visually most articulate. When I asked him what sort of film he wanted to make, I thought he would build a glowing word picture of the visuals he saw for his film; but he talked far more about the sound than the visuals. He kept mumbling into his beard about textures, patterns, unconnected juxtapositions and electronic music which he listened to endlessly at night before setting out to make a film. Being a Government organisation, we had to ask him for a script [...] This script ran "Chittor: massive: Bundi: graceful, delicate, poetic; Jaiselmer: vast spaces." For me this was enough, for I was very sure of the vigorous springs of Husain's creativity. Nine words can form a script. However, I was curious to explore Husain's powers of visualisation in time. He had amply proved his ability to organise and structure space on a flat canvas. Now he would face the challenge of structuring space in terms of fast-running time on celluloid that would fly past on the screen at 24 frames a second.
We talked, we discussed, we argued (not much). We finally agreed on a half page "script" which I was sure Husain would change as soon as he reached the location because that is where he would finally choose his palette and grasp on the visual elements that would build his structure. He would not and did not change the mood and ideas behind the film. This feel for the film, this love for Rajasthan were too deep within him to be changed. This was a good enough guarantee even for spending Government money. I was entirely sure that in fact he had the film firmly in his head. And in his heart the driving innocence which abounds in such great measure throughout the film."
- J.S. Bhownagary ('Husain Makes a Film', Through the Eyes of a Painter, programme, July 1967, New Delhi)
In 1954, Padmashri Jehangir Shapurji (Jean) Bhownagary joined the Indian Government Films Division as the Deputy Chief producer. He became a well-known name in the Indian film industry and was celebrated for being a great mentor. He was a good friend of Kekoo Gandhy and through this friendship was introduced to many young artists and filmakers including Husain. Bhownagary was instrumental in supporting Husain's vision for Through the Eyes of a Painter, in the film's programme, Bhownagary ellaborates:
"How did the well-known painter Husain come to make the film 'Through the eyes of a painter' which won the Golden Bear in Berlin? The Films Division now has a small budget for experimentation - whether it be with equipment or with film. One of the experiments I was most interested in was cross-fertilising talents to bring a painter and his way of seeing things into the Films Division [...] So I asked Husain whether he would like to make a film for the love of it. We would not be able to pay him much, not even as much as one of his canvases could fetch. But the Films Division could offer him film, a cameraman, a recordist, an editor, and the equipment that they use. Husain jumped at it. His first love had been films, he said. I remember how moved he was after seeing "Pather Panchali" and how his pen had immediately flowed into a series of drawings based on the inspiration he had received from Satyajit Ray's first film.
Oddly enough, he made two conditions: (1) that it should be in black and white and not in colour (2) that the sound should be as important as the visual. Husain is not the most verbose of men though he is visually most articulate. When I asked him what sort of film he wanted to make, I thought he would build a glowing word picture of the visuals he saw for his film; but he talked far more about the sound than the visuals. He kept mumbling into his beard about textures, patterns, unconnected juxtapositions and electronic music which he listened to endlessly at night before setting out to make a film. Being a Government organisation, we had to ask him for a script [...] This script ran "Chittor: massive: Bundi: graceful, delicate, poetic; Jaiselmer: vast spaces." For me this was enough, for I was very sure of the vigorous springs of Husain's creativity. Nine words can form a script. However, I was curious to explore Husain's powers of visualisation in time. He had amply proved his ability to organise and structure space on a flat canvas. Now he would face the challenge of structuring space in terms of fast-running time on celluloid that would fly past on the screen at 24 frames a second.
We talked, we discussed, we argued (not much). We finally agreed on a half page "script" which I was sure Husain would change as soon as he reached the location because that is where he would finally choose his palette and grasp on the visual elements that would build his structure. He would not and did not change the mood and ideas behind the film. This feel for the film, this love for Rajasthan were too deep within him to be changed. This was a good enough guarantee even for spending Government money. I was entirely sure that in fact he had the film firmly in his head. And in his heart the driving innocence which abounds in such great measure throughout the film."
- J.S. Bhownagary ('Husain Makes a Film', Through the Eyes of a Painter, programme, July 1967, New Delhi)