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Lot Essay
Born in 1894 in Kishoreganj, now a part of Bangladesh, Hemendranath Mazumdar was one of the few Indian artists of the early Twentieth Century to achieve both academic and commercial success during his lifetime. Although he was a close associate of Abanindranath Tagore, he preferred to work in the European academic style rejected by the Bengal School.
Mazumdar’s oeuvre followed in the tradition of Raja Ravi Varma and explored a comparable range of themes focussing mainly on oil paintings of women. His wife frequently sat for these portraits, explaining the similarities seen between many of the artist’s subjects. Set against the backdrop of socially conservative Bengal in the 1920s, the magnetic power of Mazumdar’s women lay in their palpability and immediacy. At a time when women were behind purdah, his subject in the present painting, a young village girl carrying a basket of fruit unabashedly holds the gaze of the viewer. Although a peasant woman, Mazumdar has depicted her wearing elaborate jewellery and a luminous gold sari which stands out in dramatic contrast against the dark background.
During his lifetime Mazumdar was awarded many high profile commissions, including decorating a celebratory gate to welcome King George V of England to India in 1911. The Maharajas of Jaipur, Bikaner, Kashmir, Patiala, Cooch Behar and Mayurbhanj, to name a few, commissioned many works from him for their palaces. The Maharaja, Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, a devoted patron, also engaged him as a state artist for five years (1932-38).
Mazumdar’s oeuvre followed in the tradition of Raja Ravi Varma and explored a comparable range of themes focussing mainly on oil paintings of women. His wife frequently sat for these portraits, explaining the similarities seen between many of the artist’s subjects. Set against the backdrop of socially conservative Bengal in the 1920s, the magnetic power of Mazumdar’s women lay in their palpability and immediacy. At a time when women were behind purdah, his subject in the present painting, a young village girl carrying a basket of fruit unabashedly holds the gaze of the viewer. Although a peasant woman, Mazumdar has depicted her wearing elaborate jewellery and a luminous gold sari which stands out in dramatic contrast against the dark background.
During his lifetime Mazumdar was awarded many high profile commissions, including decorating a celebratory gate to welcome King George V of England to India in 1911. The Maharajas of Jaipur, Bikaner, Kashmir, Patiala, Cooch Behar and Mayurbhanj, to name a few, commissioned many works from him for their palaces. The Maharaja, Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, a devoted patron, also engaged him as a state artist for five years (1932-38).