In the Bower of Art

Abstract In the essay entitled In the Bower of Art, Chitranibha Chowdhury commemorates her art teacher Nandalal Bose, one of the pioneers of modern art in twentieth-century India, widely renowned for reigniting the indigenous painting style, and popularizing pan-Asian art in the contemporary era. Though apparently a commemorative essay, the current text could be read in more than one way. There was hardly any academic and cultural platform in twentieth-century Bengal where women painters could air their views on art, discuss their own artistic practices and make critical commentary and analyses on art and artists. In the male-dominated art world, the literary expressiveness of the women painters of Bengal, much like their artistic creations, remained confined and without a discourse of their own. To them, the very scope of paying tribute to one’s own master was like unlocking the gate of self-expression and throwing it wide open to render their repressed and silenced voices audible in the public domain. This very idea of and approach to self-expression is subversive. The current essay by Chitranibha Chowdhury, written in the vernacular soon after Nandalal Bose’s death, is one such exemplary instance of a truly critical reading.