National Gallery of Modern Art-Parikraman

Nandalal Bose

A Sketch from Album No. 88 9250 Nandalal Bose Pen & Ink on postcard

Nandalal's exploration of the different ways of delineating a line allowed him to experiment in representation of lines in its varying forms adding rhythm, vigour and life to the form of the figures. In this drawing of a village woman carrying an earthen pot on her head the artist has astutely portrayed a village woman and her drapery with minimalist linear accents and the spatial treatment of her form against the backdrop of a probable landscape. Nandalal was indefatigable in his sketching routines which formed an adjunct part of his daily life. Making instantaneous visual records of anything amusing happening in his surroundings or of social events, or observing the demeanour and mannerisms of people, the cattle and observing intently the ways of nature was inspiring and a source of delight for Nanadalal. His smaller sketches are testimony of Nandalal's keenness to observe and his empathy for the environment in which he lived.