Nandalal Bose

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. His father, Purna Chandra Bose, was at that time working in the Darbhanga Estate. 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. 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. Nandalal became a pupil of Abanindranath Tagore, who was known for his Indian style of painting that blended elements from Mughal and Rajput miniature paintings with European realism. Nandalal followed this style and created paintings of scenes from Indian mythologies, women, and village life. He also experimented with different media such as watercolor, ink, tempera, oil, crayon and woodcut. Nandalal was also involved in the Indian independence movement and used his art as a means of expressing his patriotism and nationalism. He created posters for various sessions of the Indian National Congress and made a linocut print of Mahatma Gandhi walking with a staff that became an iconic image for the non-violence movement. He also participated in the Swadeshi movement and promoted the use of indigenous materials and techniques in art. In 1921, Nandalal became the principal of Kala Bhavan (College of Fine Arts) at Santiniketan, where he established an open-air laboratory for teaching and learning art. He was influenced by the Tagore family and their vision of education that emphasized creativity, freedom and harmony with nature. He developed a curriculum that integrated art with other subjects such as literature, music and history. He also encouraged his students to explore their own individual styles and expressions. Nandalal's students included many prominent artists such as Benode Behari Mukherjee, Ramkinkar Baij, Beohar Rammanohar Sinha, KG Subramanyan, Satyajit Ray and Ramananda Bandopadhyay. He also collaborated with other artists such as Rabindranath Tagore, Jamini Roy, Ramachandran and Asit Kumar Haldar. Nandalal was honoured with many awards and recognitions for his contributions to Indian art and culture. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award of India, in 1954. He was also elected as a Fellow of the Lalit Kala Akademi, India's National Academy of Art, in 1956. He received honorary doctorates from the University of Calcutta and the Visva-Bharati University. He was also given the title of Deshikottama (Supreme Teacher) by the Visva-Bharati University. Nandalal was given the prestigious task of illustrating the Constitution of India. He also designed the emblems of the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Shri awards. His works are considered to be among the nine artists whose work, not being antiquities , were declared as art treasures by the Archaeological Survey of India in 1976. Nandalal Bose died on 16 April 1966 in Santiniketan of natural causes. He was cremated at Santiniketan and his ashes were immersed in the Kopai river. His legacy lives on through his paintings, his students and his influence on modern Indian art.