Pencils and Colours

I had the pleasure of watching the movie, Lust for Life , recently. Vincent Van Gogh's life rolls in front of our eyes with crisp colours and sharp chiaroscuro  all around. I was just amazed that the filmmakers actually managed to bring out the characteristics of Van Gogh's painting into the movie itself, and this was back in 1956. The entire movie is weighed on the dialogues that flow quite poetically, and Kirk Douglas's Vincent Van Gogh, Anthony Quinn's Paul Gauguin, and James Donald's Theo Van Gogh are apt and convincing in their roles. The warmth and love between the brothers, Vincent Van Gogh and Theo Van Gogh, the conversations and conflicts between Vincent Van Gogh and all other real-life  characters (Paul Gauguin in particular), the narration of the letters from Vincent to Theo in the background, the representation of Van Gogh's real paintings and more, everything adds to a delightful experience.  Paul Gauguin's sarcasm and qu

During my contextual studies in art, the one painting that stayed back on my mind even after the lectures got over is Guernica  by Pablo Picasso. An anti-war statement, it portrayed in abstract form the tragedies and horrors war inflicts upon innocent civilians, and to this date it holds a monumental status among the masterpieces depicting war and its aftermath. It was hard to not get engulfed by the painting's grandness. And, thus started my own rendition of Guernica. Even as our nation reels back from severe blows of corruption, war, terrorism, domestic violence, rape, it's equally dismaying to see that nothing majorly happens to prevent them. There is an uproar, then debates, then discussions, then mentioning, then whispers, and then people forget and move on. I'm no saint either, for I have my share of drawbacks. But,  I believe there is a great deal of power in a piece of art to change the course of history.  I remember a quote by Picasso I recently read. He said

I've often met with derisive sighs when they find me reading a graphic novel. It can be credited to the fact that in India graphic novels are not generally excepted as a literary piece or even a piece of art for that matter; but the bigger reason is the lack of knowledge about what goes behind the conjuring of a good graphic novel. Let me not use a fancy term as Graphic Novel. Let me just call it a comic book. So, what's not to like in a good comic book? The artwork is amazing, the literary material top-notch, the story a thoughtful experience! So, why is it that generally it's labelled to be read only by kids? Why not adults? I attribute it to the perception that adults (as opposed to children) know better. I believe as we grow we start compartmentalizing our experiences - these are childish, these are immoral, these are stupid, these are bad, these are good; all categorized in that invisible shelf inside our head. It's not our fault; it is because of the reg