National Gallery of Modern Art,
Mumbai was opened to the public in 1996. It hosts various exhibitions and art collections of famous artists, sculptors and different civilizations. It is situated in the
Cowasji Jehangir Hall, near
Regal Cinema in
Colaba.
History
The idea of a National art gallery was first mooted in 1949,[by whom?] and further developed by Prime Minister
Jawahar Lal Nehru and
Maulana Azad, bureaucrats such as
Humayun Kabir and the local art community. Vice-president Dr.
S.Radhakrishnan formally inaugurated the NGMA in the presence of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and artists and art lovers of the city on 29 March 1954. The choice of
Jaipur House, one of the premier edifices of Lutyens’ Delhi, signified the envisaged high profile of the institution. Designed by
Sir Arthur Blomfield, as a residence for the Maharaja of Jaipur, the butterfly-shaped building with a central dome was built in 1936. It was styled after a concept of the Central Hexagon visualised by
Sir Edwin Lutyens. It was Lutyens, along with Herbert Baker, who visualized and gave shape to the new capital in
Delhi. Along with buildings designed for other princely potentates like Bikaner and Hyderabad, Jaipur House girded the India Gate circle.
NGMA's inauguration was marked by an exhibition of sculptures. Prominent sculptors of the time including
Debi Prasad Roy Chowdhury,
Ramkinkar Baij,
Sankho Chaudhuri, Dhanraj Bhagat, Sarbari Roy Chowdhury and others had participated. The show was prepared by NGMA's first curator
Herman Goetz. A noted German art historian, Goetz had earlier been responsible for setting up the Baroda Museum.
The Gallery is run and administered as a subordinate office to the Department of Culture, Government of India, and showcases the changing art forms through the passage of the last hundred and fifty years starting from about 1857 in the field of
Visual art and
Plastic arts.
Bibliography:
Ella Datta, Treasures of National Gallery of Modern Art.
ISBN978-81-88204-30-4.MAPIN(Ahmedabad)
Gallery
World Heritage Site info about Sir Cowasji Jehangir Public Hall which houses the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai
National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India January 9, 2015
National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India January 9, 2015
National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India January 9, 2015
National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India January 9, 2015
Deconstructed Innings, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, India January 9, 2015
The central figure, a glowing young boy, is Sachin Tendulkar, famed cricketer. Behind him, holding the flag of India is the goddess Saraswati. The American comic book hero, Superman, is seen wielding a cricket bat. Other gods and rishis by Raja Ravi Varma can be seen.