Page 9 - N S Bendre - Selected Works 1935 - 1991
P. 9

not generally used, as well as the omission of   success was one of the first indications
                               unnecessary details to simplify the form. Bendre   of Bendre’s emergence as a master
                               and the others did not confine themselves to the   colourist in the history of Modern
                               rigid principles of academic realism and brought   Indian Art. In December 1934, works
                               a new perspective to the art world in Bombay.   by Bendre and his contemporaries
                               Their works expressed a  strong  inclination   were  showcased   at  Burlington
                               towards  experimenting  with  the arranging  of   Galleries in London in an exhibition
                               forms and spatial dynamics with the medium of   titled ‘Modern Art In Western India.’
                               watercolour in an opaque manner.              Bendre’s growing reputation continued
                                    In fact, before this, Indians had hitherto   to flourish through the early decades
                               seen little to no Impressionist influence, which   of  the  1930s.  The  year 1935  recorded
                               combined the segmentation of colour with the   another important achievement, when
                               effects of the atmosphere, especially sunlight.   his  work  won  the  coveted  Governor’s
                                    But true to his nature, Bendre moved away   Prize from the Bombay Art Society.
                               from this tradition by exaggerating his hues
                               and introducing black into his palette, a move
                               borrowed from the Expressionist tendencies    The Artist Traveller
                               of the time. This evolution seems to have been   It is well known that Bendre was
                               partially influenced by the styles of Central   an avid traveller and his wanderlust
                               European émigrés in Bombay during the 1930s,   across myriad regions of India became
                               including Walter Langhammer, who brought      a source of inexhaustible inspiration
 The artist                    a  hint  of  vibrant  Expressionism to the  Indian   for him throughout his career. The
 master: Bendre                artistic planes, and Oskar Kokoschka, whose   paintings of the Kashmir Series done
 at work on one
 of his famed                  panoramic cityscapes inspired the application of   in the year 1936 are some of the most
 landscape canvases            pure hues. Similarly, Bendre replaced the mellow   admired works in his oeuvre.
                               tones prevalent in the Indore group style and      Bendre’s trip to Kashmir with
                               switched to vivid colours. With this, he brought   friend and fellow artist, V A Mali, was
                               a fresh breath to Indian landscape painting and   originally intended to be an exercise in
                               also became a source of inspiration for the artists   open-air painting. However, as legend
                               of the succeeding generation, especially S H Raza,   goes, Mali happened to fall ill and
                               who adopted similar techniques in the 1940s.  Bendre had to take care of his friend.
                                    The year 1934 was an important year for   But the journey culminated into an
                               Bendre. He won his earliest prize, the Silver   important juncture in Bendre’s early
                               Medal from the Bombay Art Society. This       career. While there, he applied for a



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