JEHANGIR NICHOLSON ART FOUNDATION
B. Vithal (1935-1992) was born in Maharashtra. By the age of five, he had already begun to sketch Lord Ganesh and other deities – a theme which continuously inspired his works throughout his career. He studied at the J.J. School of Art and graduated with a diploma in sculpture. It was also where he excelled in the live model studio classes where he met his wife and fellow artist, B. Prabha.
Parallel to his artistic career, Vithal painted sign boards and designed event stages and pavilions due to financial hardship. As a result, he became adept in various materials, which allowed him to understand the plasticity of a tactile medium. He worked with a number of different mediums, including graphite, watercolour, chalk, oil, stone, bronze, aluminium, and fibreglass.
His paintings experiment with abstractionism but retain the lyricism he thought to be important. Vithal mainly painted on large canvases and handled the entire surface with ease, creating unusual textures and depths. Bulls, horses, musicians, nudes, and people of Maharashtra are some of his main subjects.
At the peak of his career, Vithal focused on sculptures. He believed the process of making a sculpture to be a more tangible experience compared to painting. His three-dimensional works are based on forms of humans and animals incorporated with elements from his locale in Maharashtra.
His sculptures are known for their monumentality whereas his paintings capture the intimate. However, in both mediums there is an understanding of the human form. It is unusual how he shifted between two-dimensional and three-dimensional with such ease. Vithal’s worlds were based on aesthetic forms, structures, textures, colour, and composition. He always paid great attention to the workmanship, technique, and his iconographic rendering.
Vithal lived and worked in Bombay until he passed away in 1992.
