Gandhi Jayanti 2023: How these 10 artists have imagined the Father of the Nation

When global leaders and country premiers descended on New Delhi last month for the G20 Summit, one thing they did unanimously was to visit Rajghat and pay homage to the Father of the Nation. Without a doubt, one of the most highly represented, read and venerated world leaders is Mahatma Gandhi. Instantly recognizable the world over, Gandhi’s distinctive bespectacled face and frame have been the inspiration for artists during and after his lifetime. His imagery is used to convey political and social messages of all leanings by artists of today. Such is his power that even images of the objects he used is enough to convey the presence of the Mahatma.

Gandhiji's spectacles, at Gandhi Smriti Museum on Tees January Marg, New Delhi. (Photo by Ramesh Lalwani via Wikimedia Commons 2.0)

On his 154th birthday, we look at Gandhi through art, examining some of the most iconic images over the decades. Sumathi Ramaswamy, author and professor of history and international comparative studies at Duke University, the US, who wrote the first monograph which charted historically the investment by Indian artists from his time to the present, titled Gandhi in the Gallery: The Art of Disobedience, said, “He is the most painted, drawn or sculpted man among India’s political leaders. At a time when the Mahatma has been reduced to a platitude, artists of India are continuing to reinterpret him for our times and finding new meanings in his message.”

From the very beginning of Gandhi’s life as the leader of the freedom movement, both Indian and foreign artists were doing his portraits. American sculptor Jo Davidson wrote: ‘Gandhi's face was very mobile, every feature quivered, and a constant change played over his face when he talked. He practised his passive resistance on me all the time while I worked; he submitted to my modeling him, but never willingly lent himself to it. Never once did he look at the clay I was working on. But when I stopped for a breather and just sat with him, he was extremely amiable.’

From honouring Mahatma Gandhi as an enduring and invincible symbol, as curator Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya noted, to using Gandhi’s likeness to poke fun and derision at the present-day politics, artists have created a range of diverse imagery. Here are 10 of Mahatma Gandhi’s looks:

Bapu (1930) by Nandalal Bose

'Bapu' (1930) by Nandalal Bose.

The Dandi March by Gandhi in 1930 inspired Nandalal Bose to prepare a linocut image on teakwood with tempera. It is one of the several posters the artist produced during the Civil Disobedience Movement and while almost all the posters were destroyed, this remained.

Dandi March Sculpture (Gyarah Murti) by Devi Prasad Roychowdhury

Dandi March Sculpture (Gyarah Murti), by Devi Prasad Roychowdhury, in Delhi.

The iconic sculpture in New Delhi (commissioned in 1972) shows Gandhi and his followers including Sarojini Naidu at the Dandi March. Devi Prasad was the first Indian artist to sculpt in bronze and was known for his powerful and dynamic sculptures like the Martyrs’ Memorial in Patna and Triumph of Labour at the Marina Beach in Chennai. The artist died before Gyarah Murti could be completed and the sculpture was finished by his wife and students.

The East 1948 by Feliks Topolski

The reworked painting of 'The East 1948' by Feliks Topolski displayed at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Originally, the Polish-born British artist did the painting in 1946, two years before the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. In an imagery, which has often been deemed prophetic, a limp Gandhi, in blood-soaked loincloth, is being carried by two women through a sea of shocked faces. The imagery was reworked in 1948 and brought to India in 1950 when Topolski was invited by Nehru for the Republic Day celebrations. Was the artist being prophetic or was he responding to the threats that Gandhi faced in 1946? The painting now hangs in the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre.

Two-line sketches by cartoonist NK Ranga

Two-line sketches by cartoonist NK Ranga. (Photos: Twitter)

Sarojini Naidu once called Gandhi Mickey Mouse because of his prominent ears. While hundreds of cartoons have emerged on Gandhi during his lifetime, after his death, the number has increased exponentially. Ranga (NK Ranganathan), a prominent cartoonist, was famous for his iconic two-line sketches of Gandhi. Several of the sketches were autographed by the Mahatma himself and one of the sketches made it as a postage stamp.

Reimagining Bapu (1999) by Atul Dodiya

A limited edition from the 'Reimagining Bapu' (1999) series by Atul Dodiya (Photo courtesy Vadehra Art Gallery)

One of the significant contemporary artists, Atul Dodiya has done several works on Gandhi. His seminal watercolours of Gandhi from the series Reimagining Bapu was inspired by various events in Gandhi’s life. The artist went on to do several other works on Gandhi, including Conversations with Gandhi, which is an account of fictional conversations a schoolboy has with the Mahatma.

Eraser Pro (2011-2013) by LN Tallur

Eraser Pro (2011-2013) by LN Tallur.

“I have so many favourites (of Gandhi’s art) but the image on the cover of my book, LN Tallur’s Eraser Pro (2011-2013), would rank high,” Sumathi Ramaswamy noted. It’s an incomplete representation of Gandhi in standing posture but the imagery is instantly identifiable. The faceless body is purposeful in its stride and the decay-like form conveys its own message to the world.

Monumental Gandhi (2012–2016) by A Ramachandran

Monumental Gandhi by A Ramachandran (Photo: Vadehra Art Gallery)

Ramachandran did two seven-foot-tall bronze sculptures of Gandhi. The second version has a bullet hole on its back and his plaintive cry ‘Hey Ram’. The sculptures rest on platforms on which is carved in bold lettering Einstein’s famous quote on Gandhi: ‘Generations to come, it may well be, will scarce believe that such a man as this one ever in flesh and blood walked upon this Earth.’

Gandhi from Kochi (2015) by Riyas Komu

Gandhi from Kochi (2015), by Riyas Komu.

An acclaimed contemporary artist, Riyas Komu has created several works on Gandhi, notably a series of five works based on a 1931 photograph of Gandhi on the boat returning from London. He is smiling, his upper front tooth missing, defiantly. Komu placed the image against a red background with words that were dear to Mahatma: Satya/Perception, Ahimsa/Violence, Antyodaya/Victim, Sarvodaya/Fear and Swaraj/Control.

Pop Art paintings of Gandhi by Gurmeet Marwah

Pop Art paintings of Gandhi by Gurmeet Marwah.

Pop Art paintings of Gandhi by Gurmeet Marwah.

Gurmeet Marwah’s works combine pop art imagery with his personal admiration for Gandhi. Instead of khadi, Gandhi is shown wearing white robes with red hearts. Marwah’s Gandhi is contemporary and an icon that speaks out against issues that are wrong in our society today.

Gandhi by Debanjan Roy

Gandhi by Debanjan Roy.

Gandhi by Debanjan Roy.

While a lot of artists ranging from Ramkinkar Baij, M.F. Husain to Yusuf Arakkal and Gigi Scaria have depicted Gandhi in an exceptional and unique manner, artist Debanjan Roy’s Gandhi is radical and riveting in his approach. Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya said, “The creation by Debanjan Roy in today’s context is highly relevant for the present society.” Roy’s fiberglass sculptures of Gandhi are red and in present-day avatars. They wear jeans, cargo shorts, hold cell phone, wearing a headset with microphone, walk the dog, and so on. Roy’s works are polarizing, to say the least, but with a defiant streak that probably Gandhiji would have approved of.