Page 33 - Art and Crafts of Bangladesh

30 ART AND CRAFTS

modernistic language. Gobardhan Ash
(1907-?), Abani Sen (1905-72), Annada
Dey (?), Bhola Chatterjee (1899-1982),
Atul Bose, Gopal Ghosh (1913-80) and
others were prominent among them.
The pioneers of this modernistic
viewpoint in the field of printmaking
were Mukul Chandra Dey (1895-1992)
(fig.1.14) and Ramendranath
Chakravorty (1902-55). Those who
followed them later and excelled in this
field included Muralidhar Tali (?),
Adinath Mukherjee (?), Safiuddin
Ahmed (1922-) and Haren Das (1921-
93) (fig.1.15). Rabindranath Tagore
31
established the Kala Bhavana in 1920s.
A liberal synthesis of the art traditions of the west and the east was practiced there
under the leadership of Nandalal Bose and thus a different modernistic trend developed
there whose finest examples were the two very talented disciples of Nandalal – Benode
Behari Mukherjee (1904-80) and Ramkinkar Baij (1906/10-1980). Nandalal himself
went through revolutionary transformations when he moved out of the influence of
Abanindranath and acquainted himself with the world of Rabindranath’s ideas. His
paintings abandoned glorifying themes from religious, mythical and historical events
and started to depict nature, animals and minor scenes from the daily life of the
common people (pl.1.6). It can be asserted that Nandalal’s teaching had a significant
effect on the art trend which originated from Santiniketan. The paintings of Benode

fig. 1.15 (top) Haren
Das, Sweet Home, print

fig. 1.16 (bottom) Zainul
Abedin, Famine Sketch-
6, brush and ink. 1943