Nandlal Bose was born in December 1882 in Bihar. A
protégé of Havell and Abanindranath, he is today regarded
as one of the most prominent artists of the modern India. Nandlal Bose
attended Calcutta Government College of Art between 1905 and 1910. He
joined Abanindranath's Art School, where he was guided, initially, by
Harinarayan Basu and Iswari Prasad and later on, by Abanindranath
himself. As per the biography and life history of Nandlal Bose, he
remained under the tutelage of Abanindranath for the next five years.
Nandlal Bose received great support from Sister Nivedita. He was also
one of the leading lights of the renaissance of art in India. When
Rabindranath Tagore founded the Kala Bhavan in Santiniketan, he invited
Nand Lal to join it. Nandlal Bose served as the principal at Kala
Bhavan, Santiniketan between 1922 and 1951. He also received an offer
from Government Art School to join as one of the staff member. However,
he declined the same and instead, started helping Abanindranath in
preparing a catalogue of the works of art in his house. Nandlal Bose
breathed his last on 16th April 1966.
His Paintings
The style of Nandlal's paintings reflects the historic artistic
tradition as well as the contemporary practices of Indian art form.
Recognition
His paintings were exhibited for the first time in the year 1911. Since
then, the works of Nandlal Bose have been displayed at several national
as well as international exhibitions. Some of them include those at
Crystal Palace of England, Societe des Peintres Orientalistes Francais
at Grand Palais in Paris, The Netherlands & Imperial Institute of
England, Indian School of Oriental Art, American Federation of Art,
Athenee Gallery of Geneva, Centenary Retrospective Exhibition, National
Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi, etc. Even the Lucknow and Haripura
Session of the Indian National Congress exhibited the works of Nand Lal
Bose.
