Makers of history: Jaya appaswamy
Mrinal Kulkarni chronicles the life of Jaya Appaswamy highlighting the journey of the pioneer artist not as the founder of Delhi Silpi Chakra group but as a connoisseur and a fine collector.
Discontinuity in an artist’s creative practice is determined by various socio- economic and political reasons. This discontinuity in practice is often seen in the case of women artists. They are left to justify this rupture through reasons dear to them. However, there are some exceptional examples in the Indian art scene; lives of those women artists who later in their creative careers involved in the other aspects of arts like writing, collecting, arts education, organizational activities and so on. One such woman artist from Indian art historical discourse, who has shown exemplary courage to prove her worth not only as an artist but also as connoisseur and pedagogue, is Jaya Appaswamy.
Jaya Appaswamy, renowned artist, art historian and art critic brought tremendous changes in the field of art criticism, art journalism and art history. She was one silent performer in thediscourse on the Modern Indian art scene. As the editor of Lalit Kala Contemporary, the only journal for contemporary art at that time, she not only managed to chronicle the developments in modern Indian art through artists’ statements and different scholarly articles but was also actively involved in the publications of small monographs of the artists through the Lalit Kala Akademi. People who knew her personally fondly remember her as a person who loved to activate discussions and initiate people into ideating and writing.
Born on 31st December 1918 in a well to do family in Chennai, Jaya Appaswamy’s father was a judge and her mother an educationist and social worker. Jaya was sent to Santiniketan at the early age of seventeen which was completely a different environment compared to the Victorian atmosphere back home. The new milieu absolutely enthralled the
young girl as the freedom at Santiniketan allowed her to develop her personality into a bold, caring and decisive person which in turn molded her personality as a collector, art teacher and editor. Shivani, the famous Hindi story writer, in her memoirs portrays the character of Jaya Appaswamy as a person who would act on the issues only if she was convinced and staunchly believed in what she did, even if she had to face criticism.