Seeing India through modern art

As artists embarked on journeys to explore the country, they were inspired to capture the landscapes, sceneries and culture of people on canvas

The discourse of modern art in India is replete with stories of artists as they ventured to explore the length and breadth of India. As they embarked on these journeys, the artists were not only inspired to paint the beautiful landscapes that they witnessed but also captured the lives of different people and cultures on their canvases.

One of the earliest collective of artists to depict India were the Bengali artists of the early twentieth century. Artist Nandalal Bose created a large body of work in different mediums and many of these works depicted scenes and sceneries from rural India. A beautiful landscape executed by the artist in 1939 captures the lush Tagdah Forest near Darjeeling.

Artist Hemendranath Mazumdar, who is mostly known for his portraits, also depicted city scenes as shown in his 1925 work titled ‘New Market’. In the earlier phase of his career, artist Jamini Roy executed many landscapes in the style of impressionism. Another artist from Bengal, Gopal Ghose famously cycled his way through numerous locations in India to paint landscapes on the spot. Sailoz Mookherjea also created scenes from the country such as in ‘Temple’ created circa the 1940s and ‘On The Way To Nizamuddin’, created in 1957.

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