Bhabhani Charan Gue
Born 24th March, 1910 at Varanasi, INDIA.
ART EDUCATION
1939 Diploma in Fine Arts, First Division, First in order of Merit, Govt. School of Arts, Lucknow
1948-49 Studied at the Slade School of Art, University College, London
1948-49 Studied at the Central School of Art, London for Graphics
1949 Travelled extensively in U.K. and Europe
SERVICE
Appointed Head of the Deptt. Art, Mayo College, Ajmer in 1938 and retired in 1971.
ONE MAN SHOWS
1949 Cambridge University (U.K.)
1952 Allahabad
1955 Jaipur
1947 Mt. Abu
1955 Mussorie
1968 Simla
1973 Bombay
Retrospective Exhibition (1933-1990) organized by the Rajasthan Lalit Kala Academy - 1990.
GROUP SHOWS
Participated in most of the major Art Exhibitions in India from thirties to fifties and won several notable awards.
1935 Represented in Canadian Art exhibition
1946 International Contemporary Art Exhibition, New Delhi
1947 Royal Academy Exhibition of Indian Art, London
1947 International Asian Art Exhibition, New Delhi
1949 Royal Institute of painters Water Color
1949 Five Artists Exhibition, India House, London
1975 Joint Exhibition (Father & Daughter- Dipika Hazra) New Delhi
1982 Silver Jubilee Exhibition of Rajasthan Lalit Kala Academy
1985 All India Veteran Artists Exhibition, New Delhi
1985 Joint Exhibition (Father & Daughter – Dipika Hazra & Son-in-Law Ashok Hazra), New Delhi
2008 Opening Show of Gallery Artchill, Amer Fort, Jaipur
2013 Confluence des Arts, Group show by Gallery Artchill, Amber fort, Jaipur
2016 Group Show at Gallery Artchill, Amber Fort, Jaipur
Late Shri B.C. Gue
It is not too easy to write about Late Shri BC Gue. His was a charismatic personality. Simple and humble as he was, one could not help but be awed by him. Tall, handsome, intelligent, his charming smile, his caring and forgiving nature, his warm hospitality, and his friendly attitude endears him to one and all.
Extremely hardworking, diligent and focused, he created a new record in the Lucknow school of arts, which no one had/has equaled twenty years before or after him. Passionate about his paintings, he scaled great heights in the art world. At the Slade School, University College, London, he impressed his professors so much that they wondered what he wished to learn from them and offered him to join the faculty as a colleague.
However, his feet were strongly embedded in his roots, and he came back to India to teach art at Mayo College, Ajmer – a residential public school of great repute. He went onto become one of the most revered and inspiring teachers taking Child art to newer heights. From one dingy room to almost the entire Main building the Art School spread its wings and became a hub of creative activity. His aesthetic sensibility, his ability to think diversely, and ahead of times, his organizational capacity, and his unorthodox teaching method won him much admiration – so much so, that later the Art School was named after him in recognition of his tremendous contribution.
This was not all. The then principal of Mayo, Late Shri J.T.M. Gibson, made him the House Master of the first middle house- Colvin House with eighty boys under him tutelage. He laid down the foundation of the Middle House with such care, thoughtfulness, integrity and discipline that he went on to become one of the most successful House Masters of Mayo.
Always inspired by and very close to Nature, he loved to travel. He was specially drawn towards and fascinated by the Himalayas and captured it’s awe-inspiring beauty on his canvasses.
He was equally fond of gardening and took great care of his plants. He also loved and kept pets of all kinds from dogs, fish and birds of many varieties to tortoises, hedgehogs, pigeons and rabbits. For a short period he even had a deer and a crocodile!
Kind hearted, gentle and loving, he was a great family man. Very fond of music, he loved singing ‘Rabindra Sangeet’ and enthralled people with his soulful voice.
Though tragedy struck his life when he lost his only son, he never lost faith in God. He remained till the end serene, disciplined and spiritually inclined.
This narration however, would be incomplete without the mention of his wonderful wife – Smt. Haimabati Gue. Most beautiful, gentle, loving, caring, tolerant, accommodative and helpful, she assisted him in all his interests. She stood by him, strong, steady and dependable through thick and thin. Shri B.C. Gue leaned heavily on her shoulders and her support was invaluable in his life. They both complimented each other and are to be remembered with great respect and admiration.
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OPINIONS
Office of the Principal, Govt. School of Arts & Crafts, Lucknow 1937.
I have much pleasure in testifying the merits of B.C. Gue. It is unusual to find in a student such rare combination of natural aptitude and unceasing industry with which Mr. Gue is so amply endowed. He has in him the makings of a very distinguished creative artist. He is the best all-rounder we have ever had during the last decade or two.
Bireshwar Sen, M.A.
Headmaster
Dr. C.L. Fabri, Ph.D, D.Litt.(of Hungary) 1937 (officer on special Museum duty, Central Museum, Lahore).
Dear Mr. Gue,
In my opinion of your work was the best in the Lahore Exhibition. I am writing to say that I admired your bold technique and pleinaircolours and that this encouragement will stir you to further efforts and that everlasting struggle with fresh problems that is the characteristic of great artist. You have my best wishes. You are the only person to whom I have ever written such a letter.
Yours sincerely,
C.L. Fabri.
Charles Knight, P.W.S., R.O.1., London 1948
I was impressed by the beauty and range of his color the fine dreamy finish and the delicacy of his technique. The color impressed me particularly exquisite and wide range of hue, harmony, a fine imaginative quality to some examples-and always a fine decorative one.
Sir Frank Brangwyn, R.A. 1948
It was a pleasure to see the works of B.C. Gue and to see that there are still artists in India, who keep alive the noble tradition of the art of the country. One is happy to see the works of Mr. Gue, the true spirit, expression and ideals of his country.
Indian Art in India House, London 1949
B.C. Gue exhibited only in water color & Pastel media. I have never seen more perfect execution than in the work now showing. Colouring is clear, tender and transparent shading as fine and delicate as in a perfectly exposed photograph, the tonal value most excellently balanced. Gue's landscapes have breadth, detail, and amazing degree of aerial perspective and composition that always satisfies......or are his figure studies inferior in technique, "Goddess of Learning" is as good as the best work of the old Rajput school while "Lakshmi" a fine pencil drawing on tinted paper is remarkable for the perfection and delicacy of its line.
C. Hardcount Robertson,
London
Cambridge University U.K. 1949
It is a very great privilege and an honour but above all a joy of delight to welcome one who represents so worthily contemporary Indian Painting...
Prof. C.E. Ravan
Vice Chancellor, Cambridge University
Amrita Bazar Patrica, Calcutta 1952
Mr. Gue's name amongst outstanding artists of the country is not new..... He has been awarded notable prizes and awards in open sections of All India Exhibitions. Mr. Gue's merits as a first-rate artist has been recognized in India and abroad....
Indian Express 1973
B. C. Gue's current exhibition of twenty landscapes in Jehangir Art Gallery are often pristine. This artist renders well the mood of the atmosphere through the majesty and the awesomeness of the snow peaks set against the rustic roofs in the foreground. The result is a sensitive evocativeness.
The Hindusthan Times 1975
Nature which has been forgotten by the introvert mind of today, gets a merited homage in the exhibition at AIFACS with Mr. Gue providing classically satisfying landscapes....
The Hindusthan Times 1985
In the delightful family exhibition at AIFACS, New Delhi, 75today_ B. C. Gue is presenting his oil paintings-mostly of the Himalayas.... The colors are matt, muted, the images of the up-lands, the expanses of snow, the weathered faces of crages, enshrine a deep quietitude. One can live with these paintings for long.
The Statesman 1985
The 75 year old artist B.C. Gue has put up a joint show at AIFACS, New Delhi, with Ashok & Dipika Hazra. Splendid work, encompassing within its extremities the inefable grandeur of outer Himalayas (Gue). Gue captures in soulful gesture the glory of Himalayas in the rarified regions of the distant Kalpa Valley, the land of the Kinnaurs.... Wrapt generally in evocative blues, the mountains in a misty diffusion down in the valleys, and sparkling patches of white in judiciously chosen spots in the upper areas, look like the outer vestment of an inward peace.... Like the ardent adoration of a dedicated devotee, it is an overwhelming and manifest presence, defying all description.
Gue gives speech to silence,' metaphorizes outwardly still but inwardly active states of an inner calm in the projections of humble dwellings and spiralling places of worship as though they represent the tongues of the inner moods of the soul.....