Radha and Krishna have appeared in Indian painting for centuries, their story retold across manuscript illustration, temple painting, and courtly miniature traditions. In the early twentieth century, the Bengal School sought to reshape the language of modern Indian painting. Instead of following the heavily modelled realism taught in colonial art schools, its artists turned to earlier Indian traditions—Ajanta murals, sculpture, and miniature painting—for inspiration.
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The audiences who wept through Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, with its kash flowers, rain-soaked landscapes and the first stirring of Apu’s world; who watched Meena Kumari as Chhoti Bahu in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, where Bhanu Athaiya’s painterly sense allowed saris, borders and translucent layers to carry emotion through the greys of the black-and-white screen; who recognised themselves in Amol Palekar’s gentle, unheroic presence in Chhoti Si Baat and Gol Maal, were responding to three artists whose work had entered public memory through film.
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Leatherwork in Santiniketan originated from a broader movement to revive the traditional crafts of rural Bengal and reintroduce skilled occupations to village life. In the early decades of the twentieth century, Rabindranath Tagore turned his attention to the villages surrounding Santiniketan and began to organise a programme of rural reconstruction that placed work, skill, and livelihood at the centre of education.
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Hailed as the father of modern Chinese painting, Xu Beihong’s vast oeuvre reflects a rich confluence of cultural influences absorbed during his travels. Among these sojourns, Xu’s spirit of cultural fusion found new ground in 1939, when he was appointed the first Chinese visiting professor at Rabindranath Tagore’s Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan, West Bengal.
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In the blossoming of modern Indian painting, among those nurtured under the tutelage of the revered master Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose emerged as the foremost figure and a trailblazer. He devoted his entire life to the serene practice of restraint, patience and unwavering dedication to the pursuit of art.
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There was a time when Amal Chandra Home Ray, known to peers as simply Amal Home, was a name familiar to Bengal’s cultural, literary, and political elite. Described by writer Nirad C. Chaudhuri as a “showman, an impresario,”[1] Amal was an elegant, erudite, complex figure whose legacy today lives on in scattered memories, faded photographs, and the quiet efforts of his daughter, Amalina Dutta, to restore him to public memory.
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These posters by Nandalal Bose - made using tempera on handmade paper, were created around 1938 and were commissioned by Mahatma Gandhi. These belong to the permanent collection of the NGMA and were displayed at the India Pavilion in Venice Biennale. We do believe that this is the first time these have seen these for display outside the NGMA.
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This academic exploration serves as an archive, offering a testament to the sought-after portraiture skills artist Atul Bose. Through a collection of newspaper cuttings, we delve into the intersection of artistry and history, with each article representing a chapter in the narrative of this renowned portrait artist. These cuttings, meticulously preserved, provide valuable insights into the recognition and praise garnered by Atul Bose's creations over time, as they secured their esteemed place within museums and government institutes.
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Atul Bose, a celebrated Indian artist renowned for his exceptional portraiture, received his training at Calcutta’s State College of Arts and Crafts and later became its Director. He secured a scholarship to study art at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, where he drew inspiration from English post-Impressionist Walter Sickert, evident in his later works characterised by subtle grey and brown tones.
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