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拍品专文
For well over half a century, Bendre has time and again startled artists and art lovers with his innovative use of colour, his sensitivity to the play of subtle hues in nature, and his ability to transfer them to canvas with unmatched dexterity, whatever the medium.
- Ram Chatterji, 1990
Born in Indore in 1910, Narayan Shridhar Bendre studied at the State Art School in Indore before moving to Bombay to pursue a Government Diploma in Fine Art. Winning the Bombay Art Society’s Gold Medal in 1941, he established himself as an exceptional colorist and a respected landscape painter in Bombay. He was appointed Head of the Painting Department at the newly established Faculty of Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, in 1950, becoming Dean in 1959. His years in Baroda marked an important period of experimentation, as he moved beyond Academic Realism and engaged with Post-Impressionism, Expressionism and Cubism. Bendre returned to Bombay in 1966, living there for the remainder of his life.
Throughout his career, Bendre drew inspiration from the landscapes and everyday life he encountered on his travels across India. His work was not an exercise in simply recording what he saw. Instead, he transformed these encounters through color and line to convey the character and atmosphere of his subjects. “The two elements of colour and the line remained predominant in Bendre’s work [...] like several artists of his generation, he too emerged as a master of wide-ranging techniques and media, but few developed such a broad outlook as he. His technical versatility still makes Bendre unique among the living artists of India” (R.Parimoo, ‘Profile of A Pioneer: N.S. Bendre’, Lalit Kala Contemporary 37, 1991, New Delhi, p. 76). The works brought together in the present selection reveal the breadth of this approach, from landscapes to studies of women, children and animals, demonstrating the varied ways in which Bendre transformed observation through color and line.
Speaking about his process, the artist noted “[...] for me, the creative process begins with the blank canvas, by the dabbing of paint on it, the aim being to catch the overall impact of the total image conceived” (Artist statement, R. Chatterji, Bendre: The Painter and the Person, Singapore, 1990, p. 63). Lot 574, Untitled (Landscape with a Temple), painted in the late 1960s, is an evocative example of Bendre’s treatment of the Indian landscape. Rendered in earth tones, the temple appears almost luminous against the surrounding greenery, from which it seems to emerge. The relatively flat treatment of the landscape is offset by the temple, which introduces a subtle sense of depth into the composition. A striking passage of blue punctuates the otherwise restrained palette, while the interplay between architecture and vegetation creates an atmospheric rather than strictly descriptive depiction of place.
The work stands in interesting contrast to lot 577, Untitled (Landscape with a Red Lake), in which Bendre treats the landscape in a more dramatically simplified manner. Here, a brilliant expanse of red dominates the composition, set against the darker, muted tones of the landscape below. The foreground is broken into densely worked, block-like patches of color, fragmenting the terrain into interlocking shapes. The absence of a clearly defined horizon further flattens the composition, bringing the landscape towards abstraction while still suggesting a recognizable scene. If in lot 574 color works to evoke the atmosphere of the landscape, in lot 577 it becomes a more assertive structural device, reorganizing the scene through bold contrasts of color and form. In both works, Bendre uses color and form not to describe every detail of the landscape, but to capture its overall impression.
Reflecting on the teaching methods at Baroda, Ratan Parimoo noted that “rapid sketching based on direct observation of people at typically Indian and other daily activities was built in within the usual routine of classroom and home assignments” (R.Parimoo, ‘Profile of A Pioneer: N.S. Bendre’, Lalit Kala Contemporary 37, 1991, New Delhi, p. 84). Bendre’s interest in everyday life is equally evident in his drawings. Lot 575 comprises studies of women and children that reveal his sensitivity to movement and gesture. Women walk, sit and carry vessels of water on their heads, while children crawl, sit and play, capturing moments of everyday life. In one study depicting a mother and a child, additional marks briefly suggest their surroundings, while in the other sketches the figures emerge directly from the untouched paper. With a few expressive lines, Bendre establishes his subjects without detailing their surroundings. His economical mark-making captures both the movement and character of his subjects with remarkable immediacy.
A similarly assured handling of line characterizes the studies in lot 576, where Bendre depicts different Indian animals from a variety of viewpoints. Quick yet assured marks establish the distinctive forms of each animal while denser areas suggest volume and weight. The repetition of individual subjects from different angles speaks to Bendre’s sustained observation of their forms, while the spareness of the drawings demonstrates his ability to convey recognizable forms through only a few assured marks.
Across the works in this selection, drawn from the collection of the artist’s family, Bendre demonstrates an extraordinary ability to translate his visual experiences through color, form and line. “He gives importance to his visual experience, but he does not resort to naturalistic representation. He interprets it on his canvas in his own terms and offers what he has seen and enjoyed” (R. Chatterji, Bendre: The Painter and the Person, Singapore, 1990, p. 61). This group of paintings and drawings reveals an artist less concerned with recording every detail than with capturing his observations and then distilling them into the overall impression of a place, figure or moment.
- Ram Chatterji, 1990
Born in Indore in 1910, Narayan Shridhar Bendre studied at the State Art School in Indore before moving to Bombay to pursue a Government Diploma in Fine Art. Winning the Bombay Art Society’s Gold Medal in 1941, he established himself as an exceptional colorist and a respected landscape painter in Bombay. He was appointed Head of the Painting Department at the newly established Faculty of Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda, in 1950, becoming Dean in 1959. His years in Baroda marked an important period of experimentation, as he moved beyond Academic Realism and engaged with Post-Impressionism, Expressionism and Cubism. Bendre returned to Bombay in 1966, living there for the remainder of his life.
Throughout his career, Bendre drew inspiration from the landscapes and everyday life he encountered on his travels across India. His work was not an exercise in simply recording what he saw. Instead, he transformed these encounters through color and line to convey the character and atmosphere of his subjects. “The two elements of colour and the line remained predominant in Bendre’s work [...] like several artists of his generation, he too emerged as a master of wide-ranging techniques and media, but few developed such a broad outlook as he. His technical versatility still makes Bendre unique among the living artists of India” (R.Parimoo, ‘Profile of A Pioneer: N.S. Bendre’, Lalit Kala Contemporary 37, 1991, New Delhi, p. 76). The works brought together in the present selection reveal the breadth of this approach, from landscapes to studies of women, children and animals, demonstrating the varied ways in which Bendre transformed observation through color and line.
Speaking about his process, the artist noted “[...] for me, the creative process begins with the blank canvas, by the dabbing of paint on it, the aim being to catch the overall impact of the total image conceived” (Artist statement, R. Chatterji, Bendre: The Painter and the Person, Singapore, 1990, p. 63). Lot 574, Untitled (Landscape with a Temple), painted in the late 1960s, is an evocative example of Bendre’s treatment of the Indian landscape. Rendered in earth tones, the temple appears almost luminous against the surrounding greenery, from which it seems to emerge. The relatively flat treatment of the landscape is offset by the temple, which introduces a subtle sense of depth into the composition. A striking passage of blue punctuates the otherwise restrained palette, while the interplay between architecture and vegetation creates an atmospheric rather than strictly descriptive depiction of place.
The work stands in interesting contrast to lot 577, Untitled (Landscape with a Red Lake), in which Bendre treats the landscape in a more dramatically simplified manner. Here, a brilliant expanse of red dominates the composition, set against the darker, muted tones of the landscape below. The foreground is broken into densely worked, block-like patches of color, fragmenting the terrain into interlocking shapes. The absence of a clearly defined horizon further flattens the composition, bringing the landscape towards abstraction while still suggesting a recognizable scene. If in lot 574 color works to evoke the atmosphere of the landscape, in lot 577 it becomes a more assertive structural device, reorganizing the scene through bold contrasts of color and form. In both works, Bendre uses color and form not to describe every detail of the landscape, but to capture its overall impression.
Reflecting on the teaching methods at Baroda, Ratan Parimoo noted that “rapid sketching based on direct observation of people at typically Indian and other daily activities was built in within the usual routine of classroom and home assignments” (R.Parimoo, ‘Profile of A Pioneer: N.S. Bendre’, Lalit Kala Contemporary 37, 1991, New Delhi, p. 84). Bendre’s interest in everyday life is equally evident in his drawings. Lot 575 comprises studies of women and children that reveal his sensitivity to movement and gesture. Women walk, sit and carry vessels of water on their heads, while children crawl, sit and play, capturing moments of everyday life. In one study depicting a mother and a child, additional marks briefly suggest their surroundings, while in the other sketches the figures emerge directly from the untouched paper. With a few expressive lines, Bendre establishes his subjects without detailing their surroundings. His economical mark-making captures both the movement and character of his subjects with remarkable immediacy.
A similarly assured handling of line characterizes the studies in lot 576, where Bendre depicts different Indian animals from a variety of viewpoints. Quick yet assured marks establish the distinctive forms of each animal while denser areas suggest volume and weight. The repetition of individual subjects from different angles speaks to Bendre’s sustained observation of their forms, while the spareness of the drawings demonstrates his ability to convey recognizable forms through only a few assured marks.
Across the works in this selection, drawn from the collection of the artist’s family, Bendre demonstrates an extraordinary ability to translate his visual experiences through color, form and line. “He gives importance to his visual experience, but he does not resort to naturalistic representation. He interprets it on his canvas in his own terms and offers what he has seen and enjoyed” (R. Chatterji, Bendre: The Painter and the Person, Singapore, 1990, p. 61). This group of paintings and drawings reveals an artist less concerned with recording every detail than with capturing his observations and then distilling them into the overall impression of a place, figure or moment.