Narayan Shridhar Bendre

Acquired directly from the artist

Acquired from the above by Dr. Madhav Kamat and Sukanti

Acquired from the above by Mr. and Mrs. Parikh, 2004

This painting is in good condition overall, as viewed. A very small area of the painting has been consolidated in the central part and there is minor rubbing particularly in the lady in yellow's left arm. There is slight frame abrasion with associated craquelure present in the upper left edge and corner.
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Narayan Shridhar Bendre can be considered as one of the most influential Indian artists of the twentieth century. In 1941 he won the Bombay Art Society Gold Medal and in 1943 Bendre was hailed by the Times of Indiaas the leading artist of his generation. Bendre was the driving force for the artists that were to follow in his wake, including M. F. Husain whom he briefly taught and helped gain admission to the J. J. School of Art in Mumbai.

From the late 1960's, women become a focal point in Bendre's work, his inspiration was always drawn directly from the world around him and these familiar scenes were painted with deceptively little stylisation or modelling.  He states 'I belong to this earth.  I walk on this earth, and I don't think of anything but this earth.  Things here are my kind of library, I'm not interested in anything else.  As such I don't create dream paintings.  Whatever I have experienced in this world I paint.  Other things are not important to me.' (N. S. Bendre: Drawings and Paintings, Vadehra Art Gallery Exhibition Catalogue, 1992). In the present work, Bendre deliberately utilises a limited palette, with the scene depicting a tranquil moment that reveals the natural interdependency between people and their environs. As the artist states, “Man is the centre of my universe, along with his emotions, his love, his social intercourse, his surroundings.”(N.S. Bendre, “My Painting", Bendre: The Painter and The Person, The Bendre Foundation for Art and Culture & Indus Corp., Toronto, 1990, p. 63).