Alpana

This small watercolour of a common scene in India—the lady of the house making alpana (floor decoration made of rice powder)—is powerful because it represented an attempt by artists of the time to break free of all influences and create art derived from within and one's immediate surroundings. That’s what made Benode Behari Mukherjee a pioneer in the genre. In Alpana, the fluidity of brushstrokes lends charm to an everyday, mundane moment recreated in every household across the country, at least during the artist’s time.