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National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai, Mumbai Overview
For those who love art and paintings, a visit to the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in Mumbai is a must. Built sometime around 1996, this art gallery houses an exquisite selection of sculptures, paintings and artefacts. A wide variety of artwork exhibited in this gallery attracts millions of visitors across the globe all round the year. The gallery is situated very close to Regal Cinemas in Colaba in South Mumbai.
Managed by Department of Culture of Government of India, the gallery has gained prominence due to its extraordinary plastic and visual artworks. Interestingly, NGMA houses artworks belonging to eminent artists, sculptors and painters, including the paintings of renowned artist Pablo Picasso. The gallery also includes the oldest artwork, which is supposedly 160 years old. There are also ancient artefacts in the gallery including mummies of Egyptian culture.
The art lovers should attend exhibitions and workshops organized by the NGMA. It provides an amazing opportunity for the various artists to showcase their brilliant work and to interact with the eminent artists both on the national and international level.
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History of National Gallery of Modern Art
The main objective behind the construction of the National Gallery of Modern Art in Mumbai was to encourage the research and higher studies in the field of Modern Art, simultaneously preserving the ancient artworks of India. Additionally, it also emphasized on dynamic global trends in the art, starting from ancient art to the contemporary form of art.
The idea of NGMA was proposed and executed by Jawaharlal Nehru along with Humayun Kabir, Maulana Azad and the art community in India. The first gallery of NGAM was inaugurated on 29th March 1954 in New Delhi by S.Radhakrishnan who was the Vice President then. There were also eminent sculptors present during the auspicious inauguration ceremony including Sarbari Roy Chowdhury, Sankho Chaudhuri and Debi Prasad. The architecture of NGMA was inspired by the Central Hexagon and was designed by Sir Arthur Bloomfield. Gradually, NGMA expanded and opened its branches in Bangalore and Mumbai.
Formerly known as Sir C. J Hall in early 1960s, the National Gallery of Modern Art served as a venue for concerts, trade union meetings, wedding gatherings and boxing matches. During the inauguration ceremony of NGMA, Progressive Artists’ Group organized an exhibition of their brilliant artworks and paintings. There were also multiple protests organized by renowned artists such as Kekoo Gandhy and Piloo Pochkhanawala to build a floor space in NGMA comparable to London’s Royal Albert Hall. After a long renovation work which lasted for about 12 years, the gallery was finally ready to start its exhibitions. As soon as it opened for the public in 1996, it gained a lot of attraction from people all over the country and artists belonging to different communities.
The gallery comprises of 5 exhibition halls, a cafeteria, library, auditorium, where lectures are held, a storeroom, and an office room which is used to conduct travel related shows. You will be mesmerized by the variety of artworks displayed in the gallery and a few of then are as old as a hundred years. The artworks here are in the form of both plastic and visual arts.
Collection in the National Gallery of Modern Art
The gallery of modern art is a paradise for art lovers as it has an exceptional collection of contemporary art, both in the form of visual and plastic arts. Brilliant artwork of eminent artists are put on display at this gallery and names of few of those artists are given below:
Oil on Canvas: You will be fascinated to know that the gallery houses artworks by Shankar Palsikar, K.K. Hebbar, M.F. Husain, Akbar Padamsee, Laxman Shrestha and Shivax Chavda.
Water Color on Canvas: The gallery has paintings by S.H. Raza, Ambadas, Gaganen K.H Ara, and F.N. Souza.
Important Artworks in the National Gallery of Modern Art
The NGMA in Mumbai houses around 14,000 artistic works of renowned international and national artists including F.N Souza, Pablo Picasso, Thomas Daniel, Rabindranath Tagore, Amrita Shergill, M.F Hussain, Nandalal Bose, Raja Ravi Verma, Jamani Roy and many other artists.
Few of the enchanting artworks present here are:
· Amrita Sher-Gil’s European Style artwork
· Paintings depicting the terrible condition of Bengal Famine of 1943 made by ‘Calcutta Group’
· ‘Blue Lake’ by Prabhakar Barwe
· Young Turks Group artistic works
· Abstract Art by Krishen Khanna
· Eric Bowen’s playful use of colours
· Artworks by Jehangir Sabavala
In addition to the paintings, the gallery also houses sculptors by eminent sculptors including Pradosh Dasgupta, Ramkinkar Baij, Meera Mukherjee, Dhanraj Bhagat, and many alike.
Art Exhibitions at National Gallery of Modern Art
The National Gallery of Modern Art in Mumbai hosts a lot of art exhibitions and cultural exchange programs that enable the professionals and amateur artists to showcase their exceptional talents. Few of the popular and successful art exhibitions hosted at NGMA are Video sculpture in Germany, Ideas and images VI- The art in Mumbai, and The photograph: Painted, posed and of the moment.
How to Reach National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai?
The modern art gallery is well-connected by different means of transportation from any part of Mumbai. The closest railway station is Churchgate on the Western Line and CST on the Central rail line. From here, you can easily get an auto or a bus to reach the gallery. Bus No. 14, 69, 101, 130 can be taken from CST and from Churchgate, you can take bus 70, 106, 122, 123, 132 or 137.
