Nandalal Bose:
A Humanist & Modernist With special reference to Haripura Posters

Debabrata Das

Nandalal Bose (1882-1966) was born to Purnachandra Bose and Kshetramani Devi in the obscure town of Haveli Kharagpur in Monghyr district of the Bihar Province. Nandalal was fortunate to inherit some of the virtues of painting from his parents. While he attained discipline and hardworking nature from his father, his mother’s interests in drawing and craftsmanship helped him move ahead. Thus, Nandalal gained an interest in modeling images since childhood and created images of Durga, Ganesh, elephants, and bulls that were exhibited in fairs and festivals. Nandalal Bose had a kind of obvious interest in taking care of the décor, and aesthetical arrangements for performances and rituals held in Shantiniketan.

He was the pioneer figure who very actively fostered the ideas of collective and community involvement by incorporating his comates and pupils in various activities. Well, it would be right to say that the eminent personalities of his time had contributed largely to uplift arteducation and awareness on a mass level along with Nandalal Bose; and while discussing them, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) and Kabi Guru Rabindranath Tagore (1861- 1941) hold the prior place. While Tagore’s eminent contributions were pioneering the cultural renaissance in the country; on the other hand Gandhi’s concern was more towards the political and economic independence of the country.