TRILOKE KAUL ( 1925- 2025 ) ....CHHA GAYI RAAT GIR GAYA TAARA.
( THE STAR HAS FALLEN AND IT IS NIGHT TIME NOW )
Triloke Kaul is no more. Popularly known as the leader of “The Trio” and ably assisted by P N Kachru and S N Butt, Triloke Kaul pioneered the Modern Art movement in our UT . In 1948, this 'Trio' (Triloke Kaul, S N Butt and P N Kachru) started meeting Percy Brown (former Principal, Calcutta School of Arts and Crafts) who stayed in a houseboat in Kashmir after his retirement. These meetings coupled with the arrival of S H Raza gave birth to the Progressive Artists Association in the UT . This " Trio" not only brought Modern Art to our UT but made names like Picasso , Degas, Marc Chagall, Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet , Henri Matisse, Edvard Munch, Salvador Dali , Fernand Leger,Pissarro, Renoir, Cezanne, Monet and many more known to the generation of artists that followed him . This "Trio" made the essentials of artistic movements like Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Cubism, and Expressionism known to the next generation of artists that followed them in the UT more specifically in the Kashmir valley.
About getting training at Baroda under N S Bendre , he once told me this :-
" Well-known English writer, Dr Mulkh Raj Anand suggested that I join Baroda and obtain art training. He was the man behind my going to Baroda. I studied at Baroda for 5 years. Balraj Sahni was a friend .He had a special liking for people from the Kashmir valley. Always helpful, he was a great admirer of S N Butt’s art."
He always talked emotionally about his ancestral house at Shalla Kadal, Srinagar, and his studio at Sumbal. He lost all his books and priceless paintings that he had to leave behind in Kashmir to save his life after the onset of terrorism . His studio at Sumbal was vandalised and burnt. All the paintings were stolen. Apart from about 150 masterpieces done by him, he lost some portraits done by Jatin Dass and S H Raza. He also lost some paintings that were gifted to him by Kishori Kaul, Salgaonkar, P N Kachru, S N Butt and G R Santosh. He also lost more than 3000 books on art, philosophy and literature. His prized painting "How Green was My Valley" was also lost. Smoking his cigarettes and sipping his cup of coffee, he carried the pain and agony deep inside his heart. Once he told me this :-
"Which Triloke Kaul you are talking about ? I have nothing to show to you . Everything has been stolen. I feel as if I was not born at all or have done nothing in my life. This loss makes me feel as if I have neither lived nor struggled and also not painted at all."
Trained at Baroda by the renowned painter N S Bendre, Triloke Kaul remained a tall figure not only amongst the artist fraternity of the UT (J&K) but also amongst the artists on the national scene. The time spent in Baroda evolved his style of work, which drew inspiration from Modernism, especially Cubism with its penchant for angular lines and bold compositions.To a person who did not know him, he appeared to be living in his own world. It was difficult to bring him into discussions. But once he opened up, you could discuss anything under the sun with him. He spoke on the "Theory of integers" from Mathematics’ with the same ease as he spoke on works of Kafka or poetry of Dina Nath Nadim or Picasso's Guernica.A postgraduate in Mathematics from Lucknow University, Triloke Kaul belonged to the well-known Baroda group that includes artists like G R Santosh, Ratan Parimoo, K G Subramanyan, Prabha Dongre, Shanti Dave, K Patel, Vinay Trivedi, N S Bendre, Balkrishna Patel, Jyoti Bhatt, Prafull Dave, and Ramesh Pandya.
He was a pioneer in the field of Modern Art who became an Exile after being uprooted and thrown out from his motherland . A doyen ignored by the system that failed to notice his immense contribution. After 1990 turmoil , one could notice clearly that he had said goodbye to Marxism .He felt loss on all fronts. He lost his life's work, his books, his studio, his house and above all his roots. During his last years, this great artist was lonely , unhappy and ignored by the establishment . Still, he would readily join any art event or exhibition and interact with artists and art admirers. There was much to learn from him. He had many many things to say about art .His imprints on Modern Art scenario in the UT shall remain indelible. Sadgati and Moksha to this no le soul . I conclude with a couplet of Faiz Ahmed Faiz:-
“Jo ruke to koh-e-garaan the hum,
jo chale to jaan se guzar gaye
Rah-e-yaar humne kadam kadam
tujhe yaadgaar banaa diya”…..Faiz Ahmed Faiz
(For when we stayed, we rose like massifs,and when we strayed, we left life far behind;
on the pathway to you beloved, every step
we ever took became a memorial to your life.)
( Avtar Mota )
CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
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