His Art
- OILS | CHARCOAL | PENCIL
- DRAWINGS & SKETCHES
- PRINTMAKING
- Background To Artwork
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The stories of three works, in Mago's words
The Story behind ‘Farewell’
In a letter to the noted Punjabi writer and poet Amarjit Chandan in 1991, Mago explained the genesis of the celebrated work, which is in the collection of the Punjabi University, Patiala. “During the thirties and early forties (about the time of the second World War), the sight of these special trains, carrying newly recruited jawans, was fairly common at the railway station of Gujarkhan—a tehsil town between Jhelum and Rawalpindi—the place where I was born….
“I always found these scenes of ‘Farewell’ most touching; for they evoked the deepest feelings and emotions not only in the concerned families of the departing soldiers but also in the hearts and minds of onlookers.” He could not understand why these young men would leave families and homes to risk their lives for the “alien rulers of India.”
The Story behind ‘Rumours’
In the last few days in Lahore, Mago was staying with his cousin in Krishan Nagar. There was a village of Muslims nearby and somebody brought the information that there would be an attack that night. Everybody started panicking and preparing for a fight. As he told the family: “We didn’t have arms, so we took bamboos and tied knives to the tips…to fashion a spear-like weapon. People did whatever was possible: Sikhs took out swords and kirpans, they tied metal thalis to their chests. I did that too (tied a thali) because it saves you; I don’t remember if I picked up a stick or not. We waited the whole night, nothing happened. It was only a rumour.
So I made a painting titled Rumours.
In an article, “Trends in the 40s with Special Reference to Paintings of the Partition” (1984), Urmi Kessar noted that he recreated this painting later in Delhi.
The family only has a black and white image of the work.
The Story behind ‘Jallianwala Bagh—A Symbol of Urge for Freedom’
The sketches, one in pencil on paper and one in charcoal on paper, each 30 x 90 cm, have been in the collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art, Delhi, since 1998. They were considered for a mural at Parliament House but the committee members apparently noted that the composition ignored the fact that Jallianwala Bagh was surrounded by high walls, had a well, and that a mela was on when the tragedy happened, with some 20,000 people in the garden.
In an article inThe Statesmanon28 March 1958 that was accompanied by an image of the pencil sketch, Yeti observed: “The composition of the original tells its story adequately and boldly. There is a fine feel of defiance and panic. The walls are there, felt more than seen. The firing soldiers are suggested by shadows. The picture is monumental. It is a reflection of our age.” Would he do the sketch again? “Within the limits of his style and conscience, he did,” noted the article, “Wanted—Opportunity for Indian Artists”. Writing in The Patriot decades later, K. B. Goel noted that Mago would never again submit an artwork to be judged by a committee appointed by the government. However, when the government observed 50 years of the tragedy, in 1969, portions of his sketches were used in a pamphlet brought out by the directorate of advertising and visual publicity, Union ministry of information and broadcasting, in English, Hindi, Gurmukhi and Urdu.
The sketches were photographically enlarged to 8 x 24 ft and displayed at the Ramlila Maidan in Delhi. Mago noted that “the tragedy of the event had often appeared before my mind’s eye as one of the most moving incidents in our battle for freedom… The central figure of the drawing is intended to epitomise the spirit of defiance and call to fight on… The gesture of his arms has been made the focal point of the composition, with the outlying masses of figures on the sides echoing the feeling of helplessness and urge for freedom.”
