Important Notice

Rejecting the bourgeois leanings that he saw in the work of established artists of the Bengal School, Jogen Chowdhury looked homeward for inspiration. Drawing on household scenes and the stories and images he grew up with, the artist developed a unique idiom through which he represented everyday life in India, placing a strong regional spotlight on the Bengali men and women he knew so well.

An unusually large piece, this ink and... Rejecting the bourgeois leanings that he saw in the work of established artists of the Bengal School, Jogen Chowdhury looked homeward for inspiration. Drawing on household scenes and the stories and images he grew up with, the artist developed a unique idiom through which he represented everyday life in India, placing a strong regional spotlight on the Bengali men and women he knew so well.

An unusually large piece, this ink and pastel work on paper highlights the complexity of Chowdhury’s creative process – a meticulous building up of characters and objects through minute cross-hatching with a fine-tipped pen and colouring with light pastels. With a flair for the ornamental and an eye for detail, the artist captures an intimate moment passing between this traditionally dressed and postured Bengali man and woman. Explaining the almost-fluid, amoeba-like bodies he paints Chowdhury says, “I had the idea that if I were portraying an Indian man I should be conscious of the fact that we Indians sit in a manner quite different from that of a European. Our bodily forms, movements and looks are very different. I sought to study this difference and bring it to my painting. This was a new point of interest for me as a revelation of the reality of the Indian form” (as quoted in R. Siva Kumar, Jogen Chowdhury – Enigmatic Visions, Glenbarra Art Museum, Himeji, 2005, p. 90-91).

Apart from the ‘reality of the Indian form’, Chowdhury’s aging men and women also speak of some of the darker aspects of humanity, their overflowing corpulence mirroring insidious and deep-seated vices, both moral and physical. As Santo Dutta notes, “Since the middle of the seventies Jogen has not given us a single human figure that is good-looking and in the prime of life. Large and baggy bodies of men and women seem to have been distorted by the dark background that delineates their contours. Through literally thousands of cross-hatches Jogen brings out the sagging folds of their tired flesh, the flesh that suggests past prurience, excesses and corruption” (“Visitations: Obsessive Imagery in the Works of Some Modern Indian Painters”, Art Heritage, Vol. 2, 1979-80, p. 83).

Gazing out of the frame in different directions, each of the subjects in this intricate work on paper seems only partially aware of the other’s existence. Forsaking background detailing for a stark black field in this piece, Chowdhury places this couple and the unique relationship they share in sharp focus. “One of the subjects that has repeatedly occurred in my paintings is the man-woman relationship and the various facets of it. I am fascinated with the complexity, the sensitivity and the dramatic element in it. Such relationships embrace a prime area of our lives and I enjoy focusing on these relationships” (as quoted R. Siva Kumar, 2005, p. 76).

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