Yesterdate: This day from Kolkata’s past, July 30, 1980

Painter Gopal Ghose died on this day. He was a founder of the Calcutta Group, an early association of modernist painters in India. He studied art in Jaipur, and later trained in sculpture at the Government College of Art and Crafts, Madras. He trained under the artist l Debi Prasad Roy Choudhuri. Ghose’s art showed the influence of Bengal School initially, but it also incorporated elements of Expressionism and Cubism. These added a new dimension to his landscapes. He worked with several mediums, but his watercolours won admiration in particular. The brushwork in his landscapes was distinct. He travelled widely in India, which is reflected in his landscapes. He founded the Calcutta Group in 1943. Other members of the group were Subho Tagore, Nirode Mazumdar, Rathin Maitra, Prankrishna Pal, Paritosh Sen, Pradosh Das Gupta and Kamala Das Gupta. The group moved away from religious themes in art and engaged with social realities.