Results for "nandalal bose"

Leathercraft at Santiniketan

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. In the early 1920s, at Sriniketan, he established a rural reconstruction centre where agriculture and village industries were developed as regular institutional activity. Craft entered this programme as part of daily labour. Weaving, carpentry, pottery, dyeing, and leatherwork were taught alongside cultivation and rural service, and workshops became working spaces where students and village artisans learned trades. Speaking about the purpose of this effort, Rabindranath expressed the principle that guided the work: "The drama of national self-expression could not be real if rural India were banished."Within this programme, leatherwork was developed through the initiative of Rathindranath Tagore. In 1928, during his stay in England, he began studying leatherwork and developed a lasting interest in the craft. After returning to Santiniketan later that year, he introduced leatherwork to students and continued to practise it within the training system at Sriniketan. In 1930, after formal vocational instruction in Europe with Pratima Devi, he established a regular leather workshop at Silpa Sadan. Ink and Embossing on Leather by RathindranathTagore From 1932, the workshop produced a growing range of leather goods—handbags, book covers, portfolios, trays, and domestic objects—made from vegetable-tanned goat and sheepskin and decorated through embossing, stencil work, and batik techniques. These objects soon appeared in exhibitions and institutional displays, carrying the name Santiniketan and establishing a recognizable tradition of leather craftsmanship rooted in the revival of rural craft. 

Read More
Leathercraft at Santiniketan

Nandalal Bose’s Radha Krishna: An Epitome of the Bengal School

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. 

Read More
Nandalal Bose’s Radha Krishna: An Epitome of the Bengal School

Xu Beihong - The Chinese Modernist’s Artistic Pilgrimage to India

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. 

Read More
Xu Beihong - The Chinese Modernist’s Artistic Pilgrimage to India

Artistic Legacy: Rathin Maitra's Reflection on Nandalal Bose

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.

Read More
Artistic Legacy: Rathin Maitra's Reflection on Nandalal Bose

Amal Home: Bengal’s Forgotten Cosmopolitan

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.

Read More
Amal Home: Bengal’s Forgotten Cosmopolitan

Atul Bose's Storied Legacy in India's Parliamentary and Museum Halls

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.

Read More
Atul Bose's Storied Legacy in India's Parliamentary and Museum Halls

The Mangaldas Library

The third chapter in the multi-part auction series of the Estate of Sir Mangaldas Nathubhai turns to the shelves of his Girgaum and Malabar Hill homes — the quiet centre of a cultivated Bombay life. Known to the city as a philanthropist and reformer, Sir Mangaldas was also a deliberate collector — one who read about what he acquired. His library was a place of study as much as of leisure: Hamlet beside The Grammar of Ornament, scripture beside travelogues, manuals of craft beside memoirs of empire.

Read More
The Mangaldas Library

Nandalal Bose - Haripura Posters

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.

Read More
Nandalal Bose - Haripura Posters

Last Page of “Ardhashatavarshe Academy of Fine Arts” (Fifty years of AFA) by Kamal Sarkar

I have generally seen her (Lady Ranu Mookerjee) become active by relying on the Academy since 1950. Lady Ranu was then a member of the Sahitya Chakra 'Rabibasar’, At that time, she also held the position of the president of the Academy of Fine Arts.

Read More
Last Page of “Ardhashatavarshe Academy of Fine Arts” (Fifty years of AFA) by Kamal Sarkar

Capturing Serenity in Monochrome: Atul Bose's Masterpiece, 'Grandma'

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.

Read More
Capturing Serenity in Monochrome: Atul Bose's Masterpiece, 'Grandma'
Any questions?