Akbar Padamsee’s nude lovers return and remind India of its first art scandal

“Can a father do this to his daughter? Can a brother do this to his sister?” asked 26-year-old artist Akbar Padamsee, defending himself in court after being slapped with Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code (which then covered the exhibition of obscene objects). “Only a lover can touch a woman like that. That’s why! And my painting is called “Lovers”. This gesture is a universal gesture and that is why I used it,” Padamsee added, responding to Magistrate Nasrullah’s question: “How can you justify this gesture?”

It was June 16, 1954, and veteran artist Akbar Padamsee successfully defended a case in which he was arrested for two of his paintings depicting a man’s hand resting on the chest of his lover. The two paintings, Lovers 1 and Lovers 2, led to Independent India’s first major nude art controversy following Padamsee’s arrest at his debut solo art exhibition in Bombay.

Fast forward to now, 70 years later and four years after Padamsee’s demise, and things remain much the same.

1954 arrest and controversy involving one of Famous Indian contemporary art figure Akbar Padamsee. returned to public consciousness due to recent decision of the Bombay High Court. And this time, as then, his work was called “obscene material.”

BOMBAY HIGH COURT SAYS: ‘NOT ALL NUDE ART IS NECESSARY’

In October, the Bombay High Court restrained the Customs Department from destroying some works by artists F.N. Souza and Akbar Padamsee, seized last year on the grounds that they constituted “obscene material.”

Customs seized seven paintings, calling them “nude drawings” and ordered their destruction.

Watching this”sex and obscenity are not always synonymousThe Bombay High Court ruled that in any case, “every nude image cannot be said to be obscene” and directed the Customs Department to immediately release seven confiscated “nude” artworks by renowned artists F N Souza and Akbar Padamsee.

SCANDAL OF 1954: AKBAR PADAMSEE ARRESTED AT HIS FIRST SOLO EXHIBITION

At the insistence of his brother, Padamsee returned to India from France.

Padamsee was among several South Asian artists who moved to Paris in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Unlike others, he skipped formal art school, preferring instead to focus on observation, learning his craft, and immersing himself in local culture.

Although Padamsee was not a member of the pioneering Progressive Artists Group (PAG), he established links with several of its key figures, including F. N. Souza, S. H. Raza, K. H. Ara and H. A. Gade .

On April 29, 1954, Padamsee, a recipient of the prestigious French government scholarship Prix de Noel, debuted his solo exhibition at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Bombay.

It was a landmark exhibition for 26-year-old Padamsee, but it soon turned into disaster.

The Bombay exhibition featured two paintings, Lovers 1 and Lovers 2, which he conceived during his time in Paris and which were part of a series that explored the human form and intimacy.

Two oil-on-canvas paintings depicting a naked male figure touching the breasts of a female figure caused an uproar. And the government of (then) Bombay State, Chief Minister Morarji Desai, responded quickly.

A police officer on the second day of the exhibition, offended by the “explicit content” of the paintings, asked Padamsee to remove the “obscene works” from the exhibition. An unperturbed Akbar Padamsee told him that he would not. Soon, the police vigilance department arrested Padamsee under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code, The Times of India reported on May 2, 1954.

The two “Lovers” were also captured.

Padamsee was taken to the Azad Maidan police station in Bombay, where he spent two days in custody. Two days later, Akbar Padamsee was released on bail, but the task of clearing the charges still lay ahead.

THE COURT OF AKBARA PADAMSEE NUDE ART 1954

The trial that followed at the Esplanade Court in Bombay (now Mumbai) was a landmark event in the history of Indian art.

Padamsee’s cause was championed by some prominent figures in Bombay, including the art connoisseur and lawyer Karl Khandalavala, and the German cartoonist Rudolf von Leyden, who lived most of his life in the city to escape the Nazi regime.

The process itself became a platform for discussing creative freedom and public morality.

“I don’t think it was unusual for an artist of his caliber to symbolize human love by the gesture of a man touching a woman’s breast. This form of symbolization of human love can be traced in the art of various countries, including India,” Rudolf von Leyden said in court. Rudolf von Leyden was a mentor and leader of the Progressive Artists Group (PAG), according to art critic Rima Desai Geha’s book “Catalyst: Rudolf von Leyden and the artistic awakening of India.”

Judge Nusrullah, presiding over the case, then asked Padamsee a critical question. “How can you justify this gesture?” referring to the intimate portrayal of “The Lovers”. Padamsee’s response was both poignant and insightful.

It was then that Padamsee objected, asking Nusrullah a cross-question: “Can a father do this to his daughter? Can a brother do this to his sister?”

“Only a lover can touch a woman like that. That’s why! And my painting is called “Lovers,” Padamsee explained.

Padamsee’s arguments and parallels with classical Western art and Indian art such as the erotic sculptures at Khajuraho were accepted by the court.

“As the accused stated in his statement before the court, while depicting a subject like ‘Lovers’, one cannot have a brotherly embrace… I do not understand how these images can come under Section 292 of the Indian Act. Penal Code (concerning exhibition of obscene objects)… Therefore, I must acquit the accused,” noted Bombay (now Mumbai) court judge M. Nasrullah on June 16, 1954.

“This was a seminal case for the use of nudity in art because it set a precedent for not being considered pornography,” said art lawyer Teesta Bhandare in her article for Harper’s Bazaar India Piece.

However, the matter did not end there. The State of Bombay filed an appeal, which was rejected. Soon after, The Lovers was handed over to Akbar Padamsee. However, according to an article on ArtNewsNViews, art historian Manisha Patil noted, “The exhibition, despite critical acclaim, left a bad taste in Padamsee’s mouth, prompting him to return to Paris.”

While Padamsee’s case has sparked a national debate about artistic freedom, the role of censorship and social norms surrounding nudity in art, his works continue to attract the attention of government and bureaucrats. The confiscation of Souza and Padamsee’s works and the court’s decision 70 years after the first dispute show that the battle for artistic expression is far from over.