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Lot Essay
The human body, and specifically the Indian body, has been at the center of Jogen Chowdhury’s practice throughout his oeuvre. His solitary subjects are often placed against dark, vacant backgrounds, without any indication of a specific location or environment. Instead, the artist conveys joy and anguish, sincerity and corruption, through the gestural mark-making and bold contours that give rise to his voluminous, fluid figures. Through his individual figures, Chowdhury often projects the story of a social type. He notes, “When I paint people I also establish a relation with them. As a social being it becomes natural. It serves multiple purposes – one way we are creatively engaged – and another way we reaffirm relations with people” (Artist statement, Abahoman: Flowing Life, New Delhi, 2007, unpaginated).
The present lot was made during a transitional phase in Chowdhury’s practice, following his move from New Delhi back to Santiniketan in 1987. After years of living in a dense metropolitan city, he had returned to his roots in rural Bengal. Inspired by village life in Santiniketan and elements of Bengali scroll painting traditions, there was a marked change in his style and medium too. Unlike his earlier works on paper that featured fields of delicate cross-hatched markings and dark, monochromatic grounds, he began to paint in oil on canvas, portraying figures characterized by bold, free-flowing lines and the vibrant colors associated with folk art styles. Here, using a palette dominated by pastel shades, Chowdhury portrays a seated man dressed in a traditional white kurta pyjama. Contemplating something beyond the frame, the artist paints him scratching his bald head, adding another unique figure and deportment to his extensive catalogue.
Chowdhury drew on the wide variety of art he encountered through his career to continuously refine his style, and the present lot, along with lots 525 and 549, are important markers on this continuing journey. His work draws on myriad influences, from the textiles he worked with at the Weavers’ Service Centre and Bengali folk art to Edgar Degas’ sketches, Kathe Kollwitz’s use of line, and the sinuous curves of Hindu temple sculpture. Nevertheless, Chowdhury’s figuration has always remained distinct, evidence of his commitment to his own deeply personal approach to art. “It seems to me that the depth of perception that comes across in figuration, the way figures can illuminate life may not be possible through other means. I want to portray our human environment, the people of our country, their nature, their way of sitting because they are different from others. You’ll notice that there’s a peculiar Indianness in their gestures and that attracts me. And it is these particular characteristics we see that I wish to distill in my art” (Artist statement, Jogen Chowdhury: His Life and Times, Kolkata, 2006, p. 37).
The present lot was made during a transitional phase in Chowdhury’s practice, following his move from New Delhi back to Santiniketan in 1987. After years of living in a dense metropolitan city, he had returned to his roots in rural Bengal. Inspired by village life in Santiniketan and elements of Bengali scroll painting traditions, there was a marked change in his style and medium too. Unlike his earlier works on paper that featured fields of delicate cross-hatched markings and dark, monochromatic grounds, he began to paint in oil on canvas, portraying figures characterized by bold, free-flowing lines and the vibrant colors associated with folk art styles. Here, using a palette dominated by pastel shades, Chowdhury portrays a seated man dressed in a traditional white kurta pyjama. Contemplating something beyond the frame, the artist paints him scratching his bald head, adding another unique figure and deportment to his extensive catalogue.
Chowdhury drew on the wide variety of art he encountered through his career to continuously refine his style, and the present lot, along with lots 525 and 549, are important markers on this continuing journey. His work draws on myriad influences, from the textiles he worked with at the Weavers’ Service Centre and Bengali folk art to Edgar Degas’ sketches, Kathe Kollwitz’s use of line, and the sinuous curves of Hindu temple sculpture. Nevertheless, Chowdhury’s figuration has always remained distinct, evidence of his commitment to his own deeply personal approach to art. “It seems to me that the depth of perception that comes across in figuration, the way figures can illuminate life may not be possible through other means. I want to portray our human environment, the people of our country, their nature, their way of sitting because they are different from others. You’ll notice that there’s a peculiar Indianness in their gestures and that attracts me. And it is these particular characteristics we see that I wish to distill in my art” (Artist statement, Jogen Chowdhury: His Life and Times, Kolkata, 2006, p. 37).