Meera Mukherjee | |
|---|---|
 Meera Mukherejee | |
| Born | 1923 (1923) Kolkata,West Bengal, India |
| Died | 1998 (aged 74–75) |
| Alma mater | Government College of Art and Craft, Delhi Polytechnic (nowDelhi Technological University) |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Parent(s) | Dwijendramohan Mukherjee Binapani Devi |
| Awards | Padma Shri Press Award Kolkata Ladies’ Study Group Award Abanindra Prize |
Meera Mukherjee (1923–1998) was an Indian sculptor[1] and writer, known for bringing modernity to the ancient Bengali sculpting art.[2] She is known to have used innovative bronze casting techniques, improving theDhokra method employingLost-wax casting, which she learnt during her training days of theBastar sculpting tradition ofChhattisgarh.[2] She received the fourth highest civilian award of thePadma Shri from the Government of India in 1992 for her contributions to Arts.[3]
Meera Mukherjee, born inKolkata to Dwijendramohan Mukherjee and Binapani Devi in 1923, had her initial training in Arts at theIndian Society of Oriental Art ofAbanindranath Tagore where she stayed till her marriage in 1941.[4] The marriage was short-lived and Mukherjee, after the divorce, resumed her art studies by joining theGovernment College of Art and Craft, Kolkata and the Delhi Polytechnic, Delhi (present dayDelhi Technological University)[5] and secured diploma in painting, graphics and sculpture.[6] Later, she assistedAffandi, an Indonesian artist, during his visit toShantiniketan in 1951.[7] Following here first solo exhibition in 1952, she received an Indo-German Fellowship in 1953 to hone her skills at theAcademy of Fine Arts, Munich.[7] This gave her opportunities to work underToni Stadler andHeinrich Kirchner. It was the former who supported Mukherjee's transition from a painter to a sculptor.[8] She returned to India in 1957 and took up the job as an art teacher at Dowhill School,Kurseong where she stayed till 1959. From here, she moved toPratt Memorial School, Kolkata and taught there for one year, before resigning in 1960.[4][9]
After her return to India, Mukherjee was commissioned by theAnthropological Survey of India (ASI) to document the craft practices of metal-craftsmen in Central India. From 1961 up until 1964, she worked as a Senior Research Fellowship at the ASI and continued to conduct surveys on metal-craftsmen across India and Nepal. Her journey in India spread across the tribal heartland in the state ofMadhya Pradesh, the east and the south. She was on a quest to discover the confluence of art forms with the daily lives of the artisans. During her tenure as a Senior Fellow, she was also closely associated with the promoters of 'living traditions' such as Prabash Sen andKamaladevi Chattopadhyay.[7]
The research and documentation carried out by Mukherjee gradually turned her into an 'artist-anthropologist'. She began incorporating the folk-art techniques into her own work. Her inclination towards folk arts of India was initially influenced by Stadler. He had asked Meera to find inspiration for her art not in Europe, but in the local traditions of her own country.[7]
Mukherjee trained inDhokra casting technique under the tribal artisans ofBastar ofChhattisgarh.
By the 1970s and 80s, she started exhibiting her works atKolkata andDelhi along withGermany, theUnited Kingdom andJapan.[7]
Known to create only a few pieces a year, she created many notable works likeAshoka in Kalinga,Earth Carriers,Smiths Working Under a Tree,Mother and Child,Srishti,The Rumour andportrait of Nirmal Sengupta.[1] One of her creations,Emperor Asoka is on display at the Nandiya Gardens ofITC Maurya, New Delhi.[5] Her works have featured in many international auctions such as that ofChristie's[2] and Invaluable.[10] Simultaneously, she pursued a career as a writer of children's stories and published a few books,Little Flower Shefali and Other Stories,[11]Kalo and the Koel[12] andCatching Fish and Other Stories[13] being some of the notable ones. She also published one monograph,Metal Craft in India in 1978, and two books on the traditional metal craft in India namelyMetal Craftsmen in India in 1979[14] andIn Search of Viswakarma in 1994.[15]
Meera Mukherjee died in 1998, at the age of 75.[4]
Mukherjee received the Press Award for the Master Craftsman, in 1968, from thePresident of India. An Emeritus Fellow of the Indian government, she received the Excellence Award from Kolkata Ladies’ Study Group in 1976 and theAbanindra Prize in 1981 from the Government of West Bengal. She held the fellowship from theMinistry of Culture from 1984 to 1986.[4] The Government of India awarded her the civilian honour of thePadma Shri in 1992.[3]
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