Important Notice

Jogen Chowdhury is known for his distinctive depiction of human figures, inspired by traditional folklore and the Indian family. His figures, which are rendered freely and are often distorted, recall people and interactions from daily life, textured through a cross-hatching technique he began to use in the 1960s. The Bengali influence in Chowdhury's work is undeniable, but his treatment of his subjects and the overall composition has a universal... Jogen Chowdhury is known for his distinctive depiction of human figures, inspired by traditional folklore and the Indian family. His figures, which are rendered freely and are often distorted, recall people and interactions from daily life, textured through a cross-hatching technique he began to use in the 1960s. The Bengali influence in Chowdhury's work is undeniable, but his treatment of his subjects and the overall composition has a universal appeal, while his understanding of the function of the line adds a profoundness to the subjects and themes portrayed in his art.

According to Chowdhury, "It seems to me that the depth of perception that comes in figuration, the way figures can illuminate life may not be possible through other means. I want to portray our human environment, the people of our country, their nature, their way of sitting because they are different from others. You'll notice that there's a peculiar Indianness in their gestures and that attracts me. And it is this - the particular characteristics we see - that I wish to distil in my art. I develop these portrayals through distortion... I try to import in my figures an extra quality that's beyond academic naturalism, a certain abstract quality that makes them supra-real." (Artist quoted in Rakhi Sarkar, Jogen Chowdhury and Rita Dutta, Jogen Chowdhury: His Life and Times, Kolkata: Cima Gallery Pvt. Ltd., 2006, p. 37)

Chowdhury's drawings of women are not so much studies in portraiture, as they are the artist's unique interpretation of the subjects and scenes he chooses to portray. In the present lot, two women are seated on the floor, each holding a comb and a mirror which indicate both daily domestic concerns of preparation and adornment, as well as larger themes including reflexiveness, scrutiny and external presentation, as indicated by the title. Through Chowdhury's unique development of form and details of posture, these ordinary figures are magnified and endowed with a mythical lyricism that transports them from the mundane to the theatrical.

"Jogen has long been an ironist, training his sardonic eye on the concupiscence and suspicion that underpin human relationships, the scorn and loathing that are so often the obverse of the coin of love. His eye is peculiarly satirical in its ability to strip its subjects down to their primal instincts. Yet it is also sensually connoisseurial... And it is compassionate, also, in its evocation of the intricate tapestry of motives and actions that is human behaviour. Oscillating between sentiment and satire, Jogen's attitude suggests a dark romanticism, impelled by a tender sympathy with human fallibility." (Ranjit Hoskote, Jogen Chowdhury: A Calligraphy of Touch and Gaze, Hyderabad: Kalakriti Art Gallery, 2006)

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