Important Notice

N S Bendre's complete mastery over form, technique and composition is seen in this charming rendition of a fishing scene. Painted in 1958, when he was teaching at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M S University Baroda, it depicts symmetrical fishing boats, nets and fish on undulating water, with fishermen and women going about their work between the sea and shore. The present lot was executed during Bendre's brief flirtation with abstract art during... N S Bendre's complete mastery over form, technique and composition is seen in this charming rendition of a fishing scene. Painted in 1958, when he was teaching at the Faculty of Fine Arts, M S University Baroda, it depicts symmetrical fishing boats, nets and fish on undulating water, with fishermen and women going about their work between the sea and shore. The present lot was executed during Bendre's brief flirtation with abstract art during the late 1950s. Influenced by Western artists such as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque and Wassily Kandinsky, Bendre experimented with principles of Cubism and abstraction - recognising the need for distortion, while equally considering the interplay of colour and space that eventually brought all the various elements together in continuous harmony.

The artist has said that, "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." (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. 63)

Read More
Artist Profile
Other works of this artist in: this auction  |  entire site