In this pen and ink sketch, Nandalal has depicted a vast rural landscape with a man digging the field with spade in the foreground and a group of women seen at a distance in the background carrying pots on their head. He has portrayed the figures in quick, short strokes to give a textured rendition to their bodies, resulting in a realistic representation of the subject. Nandalal Bose had a firm belief that for the creation of art an intimate understanding of nature and its ways is imperative. This particular album from the collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi showcases his search for newer forms of expression and his inner urge to constantly innovate with various subjects and media. Dinkar Kowshik in an article 'Drawings and Sketches of Nandalal' in the book, 'Nandalal Bose - A Collection of Essays' writes, "He (Nandalal) was indefatigable in his search for form and to the end of his life he remained a student. Whatever he saw, and wherever he went he recorded the flora and fauna, the people of the place, their dress, their carriages, the headdresses, the landscape, the festivals, the architecture; and while doing that he went on attaining a felicity of expression." It bears an inscription, dated '20.2.57' in English and, signed 'Nanda' in Bengali along the lower margin of the sketch.
- Identifier
- ngma-09349
- Material
- Pen, Ink, Postcard
- Note
- Nandalal Bose, popularly known as the Master Moshai, was born on December 3rd, 1882 in Kharagpur, Monghyr District, Bihar. A disciple of Abanindranath Tagore, he graduated from Government School of Art, Calcutta in 1910. Nandalal was fascinated by the potential of folk art and indigenous modes of expression and inculcated them in his works although stylising them in a unique representation for depiction and narration of local life. His explorative temperament with the artistic materials allowed him to create a vast body of work with printmaking techniques as lithography, linoleum prints and Sino- Japanese techniques while remaining faithful to his narrative subject: India's environment and its ethos. Nandalal Bose's art conjures newness unbound but still flushed with the memories of yesterday. Inspired by Far Eastern sensibilities that celebrate the traditional, the genius of his art's lies in the interplay of sensual silhouettes and his powerful rendering of contemporary themes with the traditions, customs and sensibilities of Indian heritage. It is this intermingling that invigorates his works and captures the minds of his viewers. He began his artistic career in the fervour of Swadeshi movement, rejecting western colonial norms of art and taking inspirations from the ancient murals of Ajanta and Bagh caves as well as Mughal miniatures. In 1919, Nandalal Bose accepted Rabindranath Tagore's invitation to become the Principal of the newly established art school Kala Bhavan at Visvabharati University in Santiniketan. He travelled in and out of India including places like Burma, China, Japan, Malaysia, Java and Sri Lanka seeking artistic stimulus from observing different cultural traditions. He also painted a series of posters for the Indian National Congress at Haripura in February 1938. The range of Nandalal's artistic expressions is seen in his various landscapes with human figures, his varied images of nature and the Santiniketan Murals. His works reflect the changing landscape, portraying people and places at a time when modern India's cultural development was at its threshold. Nandalal Bose died on April 16th, 1966 in Santiniketan, West Bengal. He won several accolades including the Padma Vibhushan by the President of India in 1953. He was awarded with an honorary Doctorate in Letters (D. Litt.) from Banaras Hindu University in 1950 and Calcutta University in 1957. The NGMA has over 6800 of his works in his collection.
- Pages
- 13.6 x 8.7 cm
- Published in
- India
- Type
- Painting
