By the 1940s, printmaking was being intermittently practised in different parts of the country. Modern Indian printmaking got a fillip, however, in the 1950s-when a fledgling nation struggled to create for itself a modern independent identity. Amidst the many political, social, economic, and cultural explorations, the search for a truly modern Indian aesthetic was of primary concern to artists in the early post-Independence years.

India wanted to assert itself globally as a truly 'modern' nation, and artists wanted to be viewed as being empowered by an ancient heritage, not handicapped by it. The early revivalist movements sought to preserve and bring visibility to Indian traditional art forms. The tendency to ape Western aesthetic sensibilities, seen predominantly in the 1940s, soon waned, and a new generation of artists forged ahead with new conceptual considerations, new social concerns, and new mediums of expression.

Modern Indian art, from its early start in the pre-Independence times, was now blossoming. A new breed of artists, successors of the 'gentlemen' artists, educated and socio-politically sensitive, strode on the art scene. The world too had become a smaller place, geographical boundaries were no longer insurmountable. Several emerging artists travelled to Europe and the Far East, thus absorbing varied aesthetic influences and learning new technologies. There was a healthy and energising exchange of cultural influences as artists and exhibits from near and far travelled to India. With greater access to diverse cultural ideas, Indian art liberated itself. Painting and sculpture acquired a fresh purpose, alongside which, sophisticated and artistic printmaking made its appearance. At the helm were stalwarts such as Somnath Hore, Jagmohan Chopra, and Kanwal Krishna.

Somnath Hore, the doyen of Indian printmaking, had a long and illustrious career as an activist, artist, and academic. He deliberately chose to adopt printmaking as his medium. Works like Wounds amply illustrate how he wielded the burin or used the acid on his plates-his was a passionate protest against the wanton violence and devastation that marked his times. Unlike many early printmakers from Santiniketan, it was not merely the novelty of the medium that attracted Hore: he explored it to realise very specific artistic goals. This sense of purpose and passion had not been seen in Indian printmaking, perhaps with the exception of Chittaprosad, who was attracted to the medium because of its reproducibility-quotient, which made it a convenient, wide-reaching vehicle of communication. Hore wanted to bring about a revolution in artistic thought, and not merely explore a new medium. In the 1970s, Hore truly stretched the medium to its limits with his white-on-white pulp prints. He explored new approaches to the medium, liberating it from its traditional technological limits. No longer would printmaking be seen merely as a narrative/illustrative medium/form meant to create works meant for popular circulation. While Hore's versatility is indeed unparalleled, there were others in the early post-Independence years who contributed significantly to the shaping of the graphic art movement in India. In the 1950s, Delhi seems to have been the fountainhead of pioneering printmaking efforts and initiatives. Not only Hore, but veteran printmakers like Kanwal Krishna and Jagmohan Chopra lived and worked there at that time. Chopra, who was a dedicated teacher, was always open to experimentation-he fostered a generation of printmakers who have been greatly indebted to him. Some of his contemporaries include Gunen Ganguli, Jeevan Adalja, and Zarina Hashmi.

In the '50s and '60s, Atelier 17 in Paris, where the renowned print-maker Krishna Reddy and master-printer William Hayter worked, was a popular halt for Indian artists travelling West. The viscosity method of polychrome intaglio was being developed there and Kanwal Krishna was among the first to learn and bring this new 'method' home. While multiple-plate etching continued to be popular in the West, viscosity became the medium of choice in India, perhaps due to the influence of Krishna Reddy who tutored many an Indian printmaker in the '60s and '70s. It was not just Reddy's technical brilliance that attracted Indian printmakers, but also his abstract imagery and philosophy. His work radically departed from the narrative trend that dominated Indian printmaking in the '50s and '60s-it framed a new challenge and a new aesthetic approach. At a time when printmaking was only a fledgling art-form, Reddy opened up unexplored avenues and presented innumerable possibilities. Reddy repeatedly urged Indian printmakers to think, to look within, to take cognizance of their roots, and not to ape the West blindly.