National Gallery of Modern Art-Parikraman

Nandalal Bose

A Sketch from Album No. 63 8659 Nandalal Bose Ink and watercolour on postcard

Nandalal Bose had a strong affinity for sketching, his subjects being the surrounding environs, people in their everyday life or anything that he found fascinating. The process enabled him to experiment with newer techniques, explore new mediums and evolve new art practices without being conformed to a particular style. In the above postcard, Nandalal uses rapidly done ink doodles and watercolour washes to render the stream of water flowing through a valley. The artist's application of colour is rather quick but controlled, blurring the ink drawing, giving the overall composition a sketchy disposition. Nandalal Bose in his article, 'The Discipline of Art', has written- "The great globe, the forms in and outside the mind, the Prana, life in which all this universe of motion moves and from which also it proceeds I try to see the Rhythm of life in every form common and uncommon. In other words, previously I sought for divinity only in the image of the gods and goddesses, now I try to find it in 'sky, water and mountains'."