Nandalal Bose

He was influenced by the Tagore family and the murals of Ajanta; his classic works include paintings of scenes from Indian mythologies, women, and village life. Today, many critics consider his paintings among India's most important modern paintings.[2][3] In 1976, the Archaeological Survey of India, Department of Culture, Govt. Of India declared his works among the "nine artists" whose work, "not being antiquities", were to be henceforth considered "to be art treasures, having regard to their artistic and aesthetic value".[5] He was given the work of illustrating the Constitution of India.[13]

Nandalal Bose studied at University of Calcutta and Government College of Art & Craft. Krishna Reddy is recorded as having studied under Nandalal Bose. The recorded working language is Bangla. Work by Nandalal Bose is recorded in the collections of Art Institute of Chicago, Ashmolean Museum, Victoria Memorial, National Gallery of Modern Art, Bengaluru and Cleveland Museum of Art. Distinctions recorded are Padma Vibhushan, Deshikottam and honorary doctor of the University of Calcutta.

• Honorific Prefix — Padma Vibhushan • Name — Nandalal Bose • Born — 3 December 1882 • Birthplace — Haveli Kharagpur, Bengal Presidency, British India (now in Bihar, India)[1] • Died — 16 April 1966 • Place of death — Santiniketan, West Bengal, India • Field — Painting • Movement — Contextual Modernism • Awards — Principal of Kala Bhavana, Santiniketan (1921), Padma Vibhushan (1954), Fellow of the Lalit Kala Academy (1954), Deshikottama (1952), Honorary D.Litt, Silver Jubilee Medal, The Tagore Birth Centenary Medal, Honorary Doctor of the University of Calcutta • Education — University of Calcutta, Government College of Art and Craft • Spouse — Sudhira Devi (1903) • Children — Gouri Bhanja (daughter) Jamuna Sen (daughter) • Relatives — Surendranath Kar (cousin) • Father — Purnachandra Bose • Mother — Kshetramonidevi

Nandalal Bose was born on 3 December 1882 in a middle-class Bengali family at Haveli Kharagpur, in Munger district of Bihar state. The family originally hailed from Jejur, Hooghly District of West Bengal.[6] His father, Purna Chandra Bose, was at that time working in the Darbhanga Estate.[7] His mother Khetramoni Devi was a housewife with a skill in improvising toys and dolls for young Nandalal. From his early days Nandalal began taking an interest in modelling images and later, decorating Puja pandals. In 1898, at the age of fifteen, Nandalal moved to Calcutta for his high school studies in the Central Collegiate School. After clearing his examinations in 1902, he continued his college studies at the same institution. In June 1903 he married Sudhiradevi, the daughter of a family friend. Nanadalal wanted to study art, but he was not given permission by his family. Unable to qualify for promotion in his classes, Nandalal moved to other colleges, joining the Presidency College in 1905 to study commerce. After repeated failures, he persuaded his family to let him study art at Calcutta's School of Art.[8]

• Illustration — Yama and Savitri, from a painting by Nandalal Bose, 1913 • Illustration — Kirat-Arjuna, 1914 As a young artist, Nandalal Bose was deeply influenced by the murals of the Ajanta Caves. He had become part of an international circle of artists and writers seeking to revive classical Indian culture; a circle that already included Okakura Kakuzō, William Rothenstein, Yokoyama Taikan, Christiana Herringham, Laurence Binyon, Abanindranath Tagore, and the seminal London Modernist sculptors Eric Gill and Jacob Epstein.[9] To mark the 1930 occasion of Mahatma Gandhi's arrest for protesting the British tax on salt, Bose created a black on white linocut print of Gandhi walking with a staff. It became the iconic image for the non-violence movement. • Illustration — Untitled by Nandalal Bose, 1954, Collage and ink on paper, DAG Museums His genius and original style were recognised by artists and art critics like Gaganendranath Tagore, Ananda Coomaraswamy and O. C. Ganguli. These lovers of art felt that objective criticism was necessary for the development of painting and founded the Indian Society of Oriental Art. He became principal of the Kala Bhavana (College of Arts) at Tagore's International University Santiniketan in 1921.[11] He was also asked by Jawaharlal Nehru to sketch the emblems for the Government of India's awards, including the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Shri.[12] Along with his disciple Rammanohar, Nandalal Bose took up the task of beautifying/decorating the original manuscript of the Constitution of India. He died on 16 April 1966 in Santiniketan[14][15] of natural causes. Today, the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi holds 7000 of his works in its collection, including a 1930 black and white linocut of the Dandi March depicting Mahatma Gandhi, and a set of seven posters he later made at the request of Mahatma Gandhi for the 1938 Haripura Session of the Indian National Congress.[17]

A major collection of Bose's artworks is preserved and displayed at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) in New Delhi. His notable works span mythological themes, the Indian independence movement, and rural life:[18] • Mythological & Historical Themes: Sati (1907), Siva Drinking World Poison, and Parthasarthi. • National Movement: The iconic 1930 linocut print of Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi March and the 1938 Haripura Congress Posters. • Rural Life & Artisans: Tiller of the Soil, Pith Worker, and Pounding of Rice. • Landscapes: Darjeeling and Fog.

In his introduction for the Christie's catalogue, R. Siva Kumar wrote[19]-