Important Notice

The Early Bengal School is believed to have flourished in the state of Bengal around the late 19th century, by when the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and the British had been present in and extending their influence over the region for over four centuries. 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... The Early Bengal School is believed to have flourished in the state of Bengal around the late 19th century, by when the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and the British had been present in and extending their influence over the region for over four centuries. 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. (Kishore Singh ed., "Anonymous (Early Bengal)," Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art II, New Delhi: DAG, 2017, 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," as can be noticed in the present lot which depicts Hindu deities Krishna and Radha. "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)

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