🧾 DETAILS
Artist: Jangarh Singh Shyam
Year: c. 1990
Medium: Ink on paper (likely pen/ink drawing)
Dimensions: 10x11 Inches
Category: Gond
Room: Origins / Ritual Systems
🧠 DESCRIPTION
This work depicts a monkey-like figure constructed through dense, rhythmic line work. The form is built from layered strokes that define volume and movement without relying on color.
The figure fills the surface, with the surrounding space integrated into the same field of marks. The composition appears compact and continuous, with no clear separation between figure and background.
🔍 SIGNIFICANCE
- Early work (circa 1990), prior to full stylistic development
- Rare example of monochrome, line-based Gond practice
- Demonstrates the foundation of “Jangarh Kalam” through structure rather than color
- Marks the transition from collective visual language to individual authorship
- Strong formal construction through repetition and rhythm
✍️ INTERPRETATION
The figure is not defined by its outline, but by the accumulation of internal marks that generate its form. Pattern and structure become inseparable from the image itself.
Rather than depicting a subject, the drawing constructs a system in which form emerges through repetition and rhythm. The figure appears both organic and constructed, suggesting a moment where image-making shifts from inherited language toward individual articulation.
🧩 POSITION IN THE COLLECTION
This work plays a foundational role within the collection.
It functions as:
- A key reference point for the emergence of individual authorship
- A bridge between collective tribal expression and contemporary artistic language
- An early example of the system-based logic that will later expand in Gond painting
This work marks the moment where system becomes authorship.
📚 PROVENANCE
Acquired through a Art broker in India around 2010