Dharamnarayan Dasgupta’s delightfully satirical paintings lampooned Bengali society with mischievous humour. Mindful of the babu-bibi culture first painted by the Kalighat patuas (local picture-makers), he used that reference in his work. Here, a freshly bathed housewife greets an equally elegantly attired man, but his identity is hidden from her. Is he a mask-wearing hypocrite, someone other than whom the lady presumes him to be? The allusion to the ten-headed Ravana could be a deliberately mischievous iconographical reference, demonizing him in effect by associating him with the antagonistic king from The Ramayana.
Dharmanarayan Dasgupta
Untitled
Tempera on canvas
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Dharmanarayan Dasgupta
Untitled
Tempera on canvas
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