Important Notice

“Whatever I have experienced in this world, I paint.”
- N S BENDRE

Born in Indore in 1910, N S Bendre was a pioneering figure in modern Indian art, as well as an influential teacher and mentor to several well-known artists including Shankar Palshikar, who went on to head the J J School of Art in Bombay, Jyoti Bhatt, Shanti Dave, and G M Sheikh. His formal training at the State School of Art in Indore, where he was part of its... “Whatever I have experienced in this world, I paint.”
- N S BENDRE

Born in Indore in 1910, N S Bendre was a pioneering figure in modern Indian art, as well as an influential teacher and mentor to several well-known artists including Shankar Palshikar, who went on to head the J J School of Art in Bombay, Jyoti Bhatt, Shanti Dave, and G M Sheikh. His formal training at the State School of Art in Indore, where he was part of its first cohort, refined his artistic perception, particularly in mastering light and shade. His teacher, D D Deolalikar, emphasised direct observation of nature over rote theoretical learning. Students “were taught to observe the behaviour of light at different hours of the day and night and were made to work even in the light of the hurricane lanterns they carried. 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 the shade. This was their introduction to an impressionistic palette that almost discarded black.” (Ram Chatterji, Bendre: The Painter and the Person, Mumbai: The Bendre Foundation for Art and Culture & Indus Corporation, 1990, p. 8)

Bendre firmly believed that producing exceptional art required a holistic approach and an understanding of the different aspects of contemporary culture. After graduating in 1933, he travelled widely across India, including South India, Lahore, Kashmir, and later Shantiniketan in Bengal, during the 1930s and 1940s. His exposure to American art movements and European masters, such as J M W Turner and John Constable, on visits to the United States and Europe between 1947 and 1948 prompted him to break away from his early naturalistic style. “He felt convinced representation was not the ultimate goal for an artist. Emphasis had to be laid on ultrasensorial factors. To achieve this, it was essential to arrive at an integration of all forms, an interrelation of chosen elements. And for this, distortion was essential- no movement or action was possible without it.” (Chatterji, p. 41) He began experimenting with artistic styles that had emerged in the West, and adapted techniques from Impressionism, Cubism, and Pointillism, applying them to landscapes and serene depictions of rural India.

In 1950, Bendre became Head of the Department of Painting at the Faculty of Fine Arts at M S University in Baroda, where he played a crucial role in shaping the curriculum and training a new generation of Indian modernists. The present lot was painted in 1959-the same year he became Dean of the institution-and demonstrates his evolving style. Bearing traces of Abstract Expressionism, it represents a freer, more gestural approach to the Pointillist technique he would refine in the 1970s. Bendre employs a subjective, expressive interpretation of nature, crafting a landscape that reflects his distinctive artistic sensibility. The artist has stated, “For me, the creative process begins with the blank canvas, by the dabbing of paint on it, the aim being to catch the original impact of the total image conceived. Things are nebulous in the beginning, become clearer by manipulating, by the application of more paint, dabbing, scratching, washing off, repainting, till I’m nearer to the original impact.” (Artist quoted in Chatterji, p. 63.)

In this forest scene, Bendre meticulously builds up layers of small dots of pigment, capturing the essence of the place rather than its literal appearance. The viewer is drawn into contextualising the landscape, which conveys a luminous, sun-dappled atmosphere with dense foliage, sprays of flowers, and glimpses of tree trunks subtly emerging through a masterful orchestration of colour. Notes Ram Chatterji, “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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