Untitled

The present work was painted in 1979, a year after K. K. Hebbar was appointed President of the Lalit Kala Akademi, Karnataka. This period marked a crucial moment in the artist’s career, when he produced a series of paintings reflecting on the lingering impact of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. The broader socio-political atmosphere in India was similarly charged, as the country emerged from the Emergency period, a time that deeply influenced Hebbar’s reflections on freedom, humanity, and renewal.

In this evocative composition, Hebbar reinterprets the image of the crucified dove as a metaphor for the resilience of peace after conflict. The bird, its wings outstretched in a gesture of ascent, symbolizes regeneration, the triumph of harmony over adversity. Rising above a field edged with barbed wire, it appears to ascend toward a radiant sun, suggesting the dawn of a new era. While the dove universally signifies peace, its treatment here reveals Hebbar’s profound humanism and moral sensitivity. As K. G. Subramanyan observed, Hebbar’s works often “romanticized a scene and gave it a visionary air… coloured by a passion that was painless, that carried no shout of revolt but a sense of compassion.” (Hebbar: An Artist’s Quest, NGMA, 2011, p.16). Conceptually and stylistically, the work represents Hebbar’s mature phase, marked by a shift toward greater abstraction. Here, the narrative yields to a symbolic and meditative image, what Veena K. Thimmaiah describes as the balance between “the representational, the metaphysical, the suggestive and symbolic.” (KK Hebbar Beats & Counterbeats, NGMA, 2011, p.27). The painting embodies Hebbar’s pursuit of “inner satisfaction,” achieved through an integration of abstraction, texture, and spiritual reflection.

Executed in his characteristic oil technique, the work demonstrates Hebbar’s mastery of layered pigment and surface modulation. Employing a titanium white base, he built up and scraped down layers of paint, producing a nuanced texture that animates the surface with quiet energy. As V. R. Amberkar observed, Hebbar’s compositions evolved toward “colour orchestration,” where shaded passages became expressive zones of light and tone rather than mere modeling (Lalit Kala Akademi, p.3). This work epitomizes Hebbar’s artistic and philosophical vision, his conviction that art must communicate through both form and feeling, transforming lived experience into a timeless meditation on renewal and the enduring aspiration for peace.