J. M. Ahivasi

Jagannath Murlidhar Ahivasi (6 July 1901 – 29 December 1973) was an Indian painter and art educator.

He is well known for his paintings in the Indian style inspired by the techniques and style of the Indian miniature paintings.

J. M. Ahivasi was at the forefront of the revival of Indian Art in Western India from early to mid 20th century.

Ahivasi was born on 6 July 1901 in Baldeo near Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.

His mother had died when he was just four years old after which he was solely raised by his father.

His father Murlidhar was a musician at Porbandar in Gujarat, popular as a temple Kirtankar (Kirtan performer).

Ahivasi's childhood was spent in a musical, spiritual and religious environment.

At the same time, he was also introduced to the traditional murals and religious paintings of Nathdwara, home of the mansion music and kirtan tradition.

Ahivasi's father wanted him to follow his footsteps and become a temple singer.

However, he was inclined towards painting from an early age and therefore decided to become a painter.

After some training in art initially, he taught drawing at the Anjuman School in Porbandar itself.

It was here that Ahivasi had met Maldev Rana, who mentored him and encouraged him to pursue art.

Rana explained him about the importance of modern art education in painting and advised him to visit Mumbai and pursue the same.

Initially, Ahivasi took admission at Ketkar Art Institute in Girgaon.

After completing the first two years of the course here, he joined the Sir J. J. School of Art.

In 1926, he completed G. D. Art in painting with first class.

During his education, he received the prestigious Dolly Cursetjee Prize.

Other awards include the Mayo Medal in 1927 for his academic achievements and a gold medal in an exhibition held at Surat in the same year.

When Ahivasi was a student at the Sir J. J. School of Art, Captain W. E. Gladstone Solomon was the principal of the school.

The latter was an advocate of Indian art and promoted the Bombay Revivalist School, an art movement that nurtured and preserved Indian art traditions.

Solomon started a special class to promote this where G. H. Nagarkar was appointed as its teacher.

Ahivasi studied painting in the Indian Renaissance style under Nagarkar and subsequently, developed his own style.

Ahivasi's paintings were inspired by the Indian miniatures of Jain, Rajput and Kangra style.

Solomon was intrigued by the beauty and elegance of his line of art.

He was also impressed by the thick and opaque watercolour paintings of Ahivasi that looked different from the wash technique adopted by the Bengal School of Art along with Nagarkar and others at the Bombay Revivalist School.

Thereby, Solomon awarded Ahivasi with a scholarship for the mural decoration class in 1927.

His painting in the Rajput style titled Message received a gold medal at the Bombay Art Society exhibition in 1927.

In the year 1927, a nationwide competition was organized which invited designs for decorating the rooms of the Imperial Secretariat (now Rashtrapati Bhavan) in New Delhi.

The committee, appointed by the Government of India, received about 24 entries from across India who had sent their preliminary drawings.

They accepted the work offered by seven of these exhibitors, including two art schools.

Sir J. J. School of Art was selected to decorate the Committee Room A (now the office of Minister of State of Home Affairs), based on their initial designs for the competition.

Ahivasi was a part of the group which had executed this project.

He was given the task of creating murals for two lunettes on the dome of the room.

The two artworks that he designed were Painting and Drama.

Painting is based on the Rajput miniature style with a modern approach of subject handling and composition.

Whereas, Drama has a touch of Western realistic style with a dramatic figure composition.

Two contrasting emotions are depicted on the either side of a woman who is seated on the throne in the center.

These paintings were created in oils on canvas and later attached to the walls of the room.

The final work began from the month of November 1928 and was completed in August 1929.

From 1932 to 1935, he was also appointed as a Fellow in Painting at the school.