Important Notice

Born in 1894 in Kishoreganj (now in Bangladesh), Hemendranath Mazumdar heralded and reasserted the importance of academic figurative art at a time when the style was strongly being challenged by the Bengal School which dominated the art scene at the beginning of the 20th century. He went against his family’s wishes to pursue an education in art and joined the Government College of Art, Calcutta, in 1910, but left shortly after with... Born in 1894 in Kishoreganj (now in Bangladesh), Hemendranath Mazumdar heralded and reasserted the importance of academic figurative art at a time when the style was strongly being challenged by the Bengal School which dominated the art scene at the beginning of the 20th century. He went against his family’s wishes to pursue an education in art and joined the Government College of Art, Calcutta, in 1910, but left shortly after with disappointment at their abandonment of academic naturalism. He continued his training at Ranada Gupta’s Rubilee Academy of Art but resorted to honing his skill in figure drawing from books published in England. He never travelled out of the country, so his knowledge of European masters also came predominantly from books, prints, and photographs.

Mazumdar, along with Atul Bose and Jamini Roy, took up assignments such as painting scenes for theatre productions and making portraits from photographs of the deceased to make ends meet. The three artists also set up an academic artists’ circle to counter the criticism against the genre of academic art. They further founded the Indian Academy of Art in 1919 and an illustrated journal which aided in publicising their works. By the mid-1920s, Mazumdar’s career had taken off and he was highly commended for his unmatched skill. Maharajas of Jaipur, Bikaner, Kotah, Kashmir, Cooch Behar, Mayurbhanj, Patiala and other princely states commissioned him to paint for them. Sir Bhupindranth Singh (1891-1938) was a notable patron and appointed him as a state artist for five years.

Reputed as an exceptional draughtsman, Mazumdar was awarded several commissions from the elite and records indicate that until his last years he visited zamindari houses by invitation to paint portraits of various family members. As seen in lot 26, his portraits are meritorious for the finesse he achieved in rendering life-like skin, detailed cloth folds, texture and depth, in a photorealistic manner. The treatment of light, background, and composition are telling of his referencing works by Ingres, Velázquez, Rubens, and Titian. His style “famously rejected the subdued, sentimental style of the Bengal School in favour of European classical realism, thus seeking a contemporary language that had a sense of immediacy and warmth.” (Poonam Baid quoted in Kishore Singh ed., “Hemen Majumdar,” Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art, New Delhi: DAG, 2016, p. 273) The present lot, thus, reflects his adherence to the conventional academic style, evident in both his techniques and overall artistic approach.

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