Identify the open air 'large scale' modernist sculptures in India.

A. Triumph of labour
B. Ganesha
C. Cries un-heard
D. Santhal family
E. Vanshri

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

A and D only

The correct answer is Option (1) → A and D only

A. Triumph of labour
B. Ganesha
C. Cries un-heard
D. Santhal family
E. Vanshri

A. Triumph of labour: This is an open air large-scale sculpture in bronze made by Debi Prasad Roy Chowdhury (1899–1975). It was installed at Marina Beach, Chennai, on the eve of the Republic Day in 1959. It shows four men trying to move a rock, rendering the importance and contribution of human labour in nation building. Unconquerable men are wrestling with nature, doggedly, indeterminately and powerfully. It is an image of labour against the elements of nature, a well-known romantic subject of the nineteenth century. Chowdhury loved to dwell on the strong musculature of his workers, revealing their bones, veins, flesh, etc. He portrayed the extreme physical effort of loosening a massive, immovable rock. Human figures are installed in a way that create a curiosity in us as viewers. It attracts the viewers to see it from all sides. The image of group labour is placed on a high pedestal, thereby, replacing the notion of portraits of kings or British dignitaries.

D. Santhal family: This is an open air large-scale sculpture created by Ramkinker Baij in 1937. It is made out of metal armature and cement mixed with pebbles, and placed in the compound of Kala Bhavana, Shantiniketan, India’s first national art school. It shows a scene of a Santhal man, carrying his children in a double basket joined by a pole, and his wife and dog walking alongside. Perhaps, it speaks of the family migrating from one region to another, carrying all their frugal possessions. This must be an everyday scene for the artist living amidst the rural landscape. However, he gives it a monumental status. The sculpture is made in the round, which means that we can see it from all sides. It is placed on a low pedestal, making us feel as if we are part of the same space. The significance of this work is that it is regarded as the first public modernist sculpture in India. We do not need to go to a museum to see it as it is placed outside Kala Bhavana. The material of which it is made of is important. The artist has avoided traditional medium like marble, wood or stone, and has preferred cement, the symbol of modernisation.