Important Notice

“Man is the centre of my universe along with his emotions, his love, his social intercourse, his surroundings.” - N S BENDRE

Born in Indore in 1910, N S Bendre was a pioneer of modern Indian art who closely observed various Western art movements, such as Expressionism, Abstraction, and Cubism, and astutely adapted them to his own style rooted in Indian formalism. He was drawn to placid rural life and depicted, throughout his... “Man is the centre of my universe along with his emotions, his love, his social intercourse, his surroundings.” - N S BENDRE

Born in Indore in 1910, N S Bendre was a pioneer of modern Indian art who closely observed various Western art movements, such as Expressionism, Abstraction, and Cubism, and astutely adapted them to his own style rooted in Indian formalism. He was drawn to placid rural life and depicted, throughout his oeuvre, subjects quintessentially Indian in nature, such as animals and birds, figures in village settings, and Indian landscapes. Explaining this amalgamation of East and West in his painting, he once declared, “Indian art is very tolerant. It has accepted a number of influences from outside, digested them and created its own art forms... The respect for the flat area on which to paint, the use of conceptual images understandable to the people at large, based on observation and memory, have been characteristic of Indian art. The colour orchestration that can have its impact on the Indian mind, dedication and devotion to the subject matter including geometrical forms working as magic, the resulting quality of peace of mind and serenity all this is Indian. But our Western friends have brought to our notice some of the intrinsic values of our art of which we were ignorant.” (N S Bendre, “My Painting,” Ram Chatterji, Bendre: The Painter and the Person, Mumbai: The Bendre Foundation for Art and Culture & Indus Corporation, 1990, p. 64)

The present lot was painted in 1989, a few years before the artist’s death, and is a fine example of his Pointillist phase which he first began experimenting with in the 1970s, shortly after retiring from his post as Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda (MSU) in 1966. His aim, he said, was “to catch the original impact of the total image conceived.” (Amrita Jhaveri, A Guide to 101 Modern & Contemporary Indian Artists, Mumbai: India Book House, 2005, p. 19) The work also demonstrates Bendre’s unique skill as a colourist, which he honed during his early education under D D Deolalikar at the State School of Art, Indore. Deolalikar laid emphasis on outdoor sketching and observing nature, and trained his students “to observe the behaviour of light at different hours of the day and night... Eventually, they learnt to observe the complementary and supplementary colours in nature and the presence of all the hues of the spectrum in the light and shade... Their main interest was light. They developed pronounced impressionistic learnings that influenced their palette and also introduced a directness in the handling of colour, discarding hard edges.” (Ram Chatterji, Bendre: The Painter and the Person, Mumbai: The Bendre Foundation for Art and Culture & Indus Corporation, 1990, p. 8, 12)

With a scientific understanding of light and shadow and careful balancing of colour harmony, Bendre sought to create tranquil scenes that instilled a sense of joy and aesthetic pleasure in the viewer. As seen in the present lot, he avoids harsh lines and shadows and paints with a flat perspective, instead conveying perspective by the gradual elimination of detail. “He gives prime importance to his visual experience, but he does not resort to naturalistic representation. He interprets it on his canvas in his own terms and offers what he has seen and enjoyed... It is not his business to preach. He only wishes to share with you the joys that the world has in store.” (Chatterji, p. 61)

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