Brothel II

During the 1960s, Rabin Mondal seems to have been in the quest of a liberating modernist language. This oil on canvas painting titled Brothel II, from 1962, can be considered as an enigma, especially in the context of the artist’s later emergence as a painter of bold, forthright, and often ‘brute’ expressions. This work was preceded by another, similar work, titled Brothel I, which was also painted in the same year. Both these works may be considered among the most important cubist-based paintings from mid-twentieth century India that address the stifling containment of their subject in Rabin Mondal’s inspired, individualistic, and powerful language. In terms of colour and figuration, Brothel II seems to be a relatively restrained image, suggesting a moment yet to explode—a metaphorical lull before the storm,.