Explorations in Art and Style : N. S. Bendre

Rajesh Singh

A comprehensive account of the artistic explorations of a painter forms an important part of the art critical enterprise, which must necessarily employ an objective and analytical approach to be able to be factual and informative for posterity. The famous art critic, Kenneth Clark, has set an example of such an approach in his book Leonardo da Vinci, while at home Geeta Kapoor has done the same in her account of Six Indian Painters. Common to both the attempts is the emphasis on the work rather than life. Another appreciable factor is readability, which the contemporary art critical trend in India seems to have lost sight of at large. Here, I must not hesitate to spell out that the present attempt is inspired by the above mentioned noted attempts. This essay seeks to analyze the works of N.S. Bendre (1910-92) while focusing on his multiple stylistic shifts and the circumstances that caused them. It will intentionally forgo to judge the contribution played by him in the development of modern Indian art, which however is a point worthwhile to be considered elsewhere.