Decorative is not a term an art connoisseur would use to describe sculptor and printmaker Somnath Hore’s work. A prominent Indian socio-political artist in the post-Independence years, Hore’s art was a reaction to historical crises, events and natural disasters.
Born in Chittagong in 1921, the artist was deeply affected by what he witnessed during the Bengal famine in 1943, the Tebhaga peasant uprising in 1946-47, the Second World War and the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He documented human suffering without romanticising it and his work, a century later, serves as a window to that era.
In February 2022, his bronze sculpture titled Wild Boar was sold for ₹1.6 crore at the Pundoles auction. There has been a growing interest in Hore’s art since. Now, Mumbai-based auction house Prinseps is auctioning a collection to mark his centenary year.
