Locomotoring

Sculpture at NGMA

Sculpture at NGMA

In the midst of being stir fried in Delhi heat, I decided to cool off at NGMA – National Gallery of Modern Art. For a museum that is by no means a world class facility, it houses a handful of world’s finest art pieces. So I found out this trip when I chanced upon a special exposition on Nandlal Bose’s artwork.

NGMA is located at Jaipur House – the home of Jaipur kings when they used to visit Delhi. At this time, the front lawns were being renovated and consequently, the sculpture garden was in disarray. Not that I would have dawdled outdoors for any significant length of time in the heat. The art collection is housed in the new wing. The inside of this building is as uninspiring space as an IT office with its fluorescent tubes and chrome banisters.

Nandlal was displayed at the ground level and was by far the most interesting collection at NGMA. They had several fascinating pieces including a reproduction of a mural he had done for the Kirti Mandir at Vadodara. Other than NB and Jamini Roy who are fascinating, I also liked the assorted collection by Binod Bihari Mukherjee, Ramkinker Baij and D. P. Roychoudhuri. Of late, I have been perusing the works of Indian artists online, so I was a bit disappointed with the collection. Were it not for the special exposition on NB, this could have been a disappointing trip.

However, the entrance fee is only Rs 10/-, the ground level is deliciously cool.  The museum store downstairs is a sorry one with limited collection but you may get lucky. Photographs of Nandlal Bose’s art, of prints purchased from the shop, are shown below:

For other cool and delicious things to do in Delhi: