Chitra Pritam’s Paintings Carry Smell of Native Soil, Rain Sodden Earth
W
hen I met Chitra Pritam and saw his paintings, I was reminded of the novels and short stories of late Prem Chand, a remarkable writer, whose writings carried the smell of native soil, fresh crop fields, rain sodden earth and stinking ponds where goats and cows bath lazily in the company of the human beings sharing the same water and same muck. The paintings of Chitra Pritam have that quality of rural sincerity which brought genuineness in the panoramic settings of the sleepy village - big shady trees, vast green fields, buffaloes, camels, bullock carts, downtrodden men and women and the gloomy shadows of the shrine of Musa Nawab. It was a world of hinterland. His is a strange story of a person who lived in a secluded shell, almost isolated from the rest of the world and then suddenly was thrown into a highly activated and energized world of the Karachi art circuit, must be a mind boggling experience for Pritam, particularly since he has been sucked into an explosive turmoil of a mega metropolis. His paintings reflect the peace of the chirping birds. It is a world of peaceful bliss. Chitra Pritam is in love with the morning light and the lengthening shadows of the setting sun. In a folklorist way he is painting what he has left behind in his native village. There are no highs and lows, yet there is the all pervading bliss of the Shrine which stands guard to the daily routine of the silent scenario and guarantees “all is well�, like the spiritual godfather. He is captivated with the shimmering shades of cool blues and in tense greens juxtaposing them with orange and yellows. The vastness of sky changes colours with the rising and setting of the sun. For him, sky is as interesting as the land mass. But despite all the peace and melancholy at times, Pritam paints his sky with agitating strokes, turning a peaceful sky into a threatening one. Allotting huge areas, he frll, his sky with anger, a loaded space which is about to burst. Here proportions vary: at times land remains just a thin strip, sky consuming rest of the space as an expression of a natural reaction of a villager who is more bothered about the weather than an urbanite.
Detail of painting page 41
That weather plays a significant role in the life of the village folk is not difficult to assess. An overcast sky is as much bliss as it could well be a menace to the standing crop. Anyway here is a creative talent with a photographic memory of a pastoral community. There is predominance of rural views with small hamlets and vast green fields. He in his oils has attempted to capture the tranquility and beauty of the idyllic settings. His yellow mustard fields are eye catching, the smell of the good earth, done with a feeling. His huge canvasses are the testimony of his firsthand experience. In that sense, he is the first genuine painter who has painted rural scenario with rustic simplicity. (The News, April 30, 1995) Hameed Zaman
49