This is a highly unusual work from the repertoire of Haren Das whose entire oeuvre—almost—focused on capturing la vie quotidienne of the idyllic Bengal countryside. Borrowing from the imagery of Christian iconography, Das depicts here Jesus along with the two unnamed thieves from Luke’s account of the crucifixion in the New Testament, with the one to his right referred to as the ‘Good Thief’ and the other as the ‘Unrepentant Thief’. In this etching, Das recreates the imagery with popular Christian iconography of medieval times.
published references
Singh, Kishore, ed., Indian Divine: Gods & Goddesses in 19th and 20th Century Modern Art (New Delhi: DAG, 2014), p. 135
Haren Das
Between the Two Thieves
1953
Etching on paper
Enquiry Form
Haren Das
Between the Two Thieves
1953
Etching on paper
Image Request Form
Images from DAG’s Museum Collection are accessible to artists, educators and researchers for non-commercial, educational use. Submit your details below to request access to use this image.