In 1951, on a visit to Topolsky’s home in London, I chanced upon a copy of Portraits of Bernard Shaw, a book containing reproductions of some excellent sketches. Topolsky has visited India twice before. He made a name for himself by his remarkable drawings of men and events in India and the countries of the Far East, published in the Hindustan Times. “You have sketched my father often,” I said to him, looking at his collection of Shaws, “why not portraits of Gandhi?” He spent the next day rummaging through his papers and studio collecting every little Gandhi fragment he had. They were not finished products in the sense of drawings or paintings that arise from a series of conventional sittings. Gandhiji did not give any meeting to Topalsky. But the artist was equal to the challenge, especially as he felt free to observe Gandhiji whenever and wherever he wanted. The result was a series of quick, rough sketches that captured the dynamic personality with a few lively strokes of the pen in a way that could not have been bettered had the artist had the conscious cooperation of his subject.
Cover of the book published by Hindustan Times Press.It is my great pleasure to sponsor the publication of this volume. And I know how happy Topolsky himself is that the production work should have been handled entirely in India.
All the black-and-white sketches reproduced here were drawn in 1944. The frontispiece is a painting by Topolsky in 1946. Critics described it as a foreshadowing of the artist’s assassination, which was to happen two years later, on January 30, 1948. The artist himself has confirmed that Demni himself has no proof of the image. There is for everyone to judge. It represents Gandhiji’s profoundly calm but lustful personality that refrained from falling in support of his companions. Observing his right hand, half raised suspicion and pain. Below it another hand, from someone in the crowd, reaches out to help. Later, in 1948, after the assassination, Topolsky painted one of his masterpieces, “The East, 1948”. It is a composite image in four vertical undefined sections representing Africa, the Near East, India and China. It is a remarkable painting in Topolsky’s typical ensemble style. In the section representing India he practically repeats his 1946 painting with some minor additional features, and the head is bent quite forward—Color Plate No. 26. The complete painting is a large 12’x9′ canvas that fills one wall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the residence of the President of India in New Delhi. It was acquired by the Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, for the Government of India when he visited London in April, 1949. Another 1946 painting is in the possession of Mr Maurice Collis, one of London’s art critics.
The international fame that Topolsky has enjoyed stems from the unmistakable boldness of his style. His sketches may seem frivolous at first glance. He enjoys the casual strokes that are like a child playing with paper and pencil. Another of his methods is to look like a coil of barbed wire on his work. But through this the serenity, vitality and rhythm of Topolsky’s gift clearly peek through.
New Delhi October 2, 1953
Devdas Gandhi
