Important Notice

The presence and influence of the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and the British in Bengal, over a period of about four centuries, led to the eventual emergence of the Early Bengal School of painting. This was because each group left behind “an imprint not only on the history, politics and economics that have shaped this fertile east Indian riverine state, but also on the Bengali’s cultural taste and appetite. Art, architecture, fashion, cuisine and... The presence and influence of the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and the British in Bengal, over a period of about four centuries, led to the eventual emergence of the Early Bengal School of painting. This was because each group left behind “an imprint not only on the history, politics and economics that have shaped this fertile east Indian riverine state, but also on the Bengali’s cultural taste and appetite. Art, architecture, fashion, cuisine and much else in Bengal is deeply subject to her colonial moorings and reflects the hybrid nature of her inheritance.” (Paula Sengupta, “White, Black and Grey: The Colonial Interface,” Kishore Singh ed., The Art of Bengal, New Delhi: DAG, 2012, p. 10)

This led to “a steady influx of art objects, paintings and prints from Europe that the traditional Bengali artisan now had before him as role models. Putting their inherent skills to new use, these artisans developed a technique and a style that is unique in the history of painting and printmaking.” (Singh ed., p. 11)

While the Abanindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose-led Bengal School of painting is recognised as having formally begun around 1905, the Early Bengal School is believed to have flourished in the state around the late 19th century. The artists of this school, who remain largely anonymous till date, combined the artistic styles of the East and the West to forge a direction that was vastly different from any other artistic movement prevalent during this time. Though they were trained in oil painting and the “values of Western academism and the lofty ideals of ‘high’ art” by the British colonisers in the hope of creating a group of “native drawing masters” for their own needs, these artists chose to paint mythological and religious scenes instead. (Singh ed., p. 11)

Due to this, the paintings they created “represented gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon, the Krishna legend, the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, and popular myths and legends. The courtesan too was a popular subject of representation. These subjects are, in fact, important to locate how the traditional folk style was merging with European nationalism… From single portraits of goddess Kali or other goddesses, there appeared elaborate scenes of Mahabharata and other epics and ever bolder attempts of newer interpretation of traditional subjects like ‘Raga-mala’. In all these attempts an unmistakable amount of miniature painters’ skill, both in form and rendering of details in dress and ornaments is noticeable, but in a magnified version on canvas.” (Paula Sengupta quoted in Kishore Singh ed., “Anonymous (Early Bengal),” Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art II, New Delhi: DAG, 2017, p. 24)

The Early Bengal School artists, as a result, showed tremendous skill in their use of oil paint, as observed in lots 64 and 65. They utilised elements from Company School paintings, Kalighat patuas, miniature paintings, court paintings and Western academic realist works to create a style that was uniquely their own. Here, greater emphasis was placed on local figures and narratives, making it a truly indigenous school of art.

This is particularly evident in lots 64 and 65 since both depict recognisable characters from Hindu epics. Lot 64 is a rendition of a young Ganesha seated on his mother’s lap, while lot 65 is a rendition of Krishna, “one of the most widely worshipped and popular of all Hindu deities”, with his consort Radha. Particular attention has been paid to the details of Ganesha’s trunk and his mother Janani’s features and jewellery, and to the popular narrative around Krishna’s dark skin tone and Radha’s fairer one. This was because “the anonymous artists of the Early Bengal style created a judicious and inventive blending of the East and the West, retaining traditionally prescribed elements as the deities’ iconography, the rendition of their complexion and attributes; and drew on traditional art, from the miniature tradition to the pat, for details of jewellery and clothing styles.” (Supriya Consul quoted in Kishore Singh ed., Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art II, p. 27)

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