After Bath

This is a masterly work by D. P. Roy Chowdhury that captures the subject in one of the most private moments of her day. Titled After Bath, it depicts a woman clutching on to her damp tresses draped over her shoulders, while her clothes cling to her wet body. Overcome by shyness, the woman looks coyly down, crossing one bashful foot over another. Bathing beauties were all the rage during the early phase of the artist’s practice, since they allowed painters to introduce the sensuous by way of the sacred into their patrons’ living rooms without fear of admonishment. The cleansing ritual associated with the offering of prayers was seen as a precursor to religious rituals and passed the muster of matriarchs prone to frown at anything they considered profane. This plaster-of-paris sculpture was used for casting the bronze one that forms part of the collection of the National Gallery of Modern Art in New Delhi.