N. S. Bendre

Born in Indore on 21 August 1910, Narayan Shridhar Bendre studied art under D. D. Deolalikar at Chitrakala Mandir and obtained his diploma in painting from the School of Art, Indore. In 1940, he moved to Madras to work as the art director for a production company. In 1947, he toured the U.S. under the sponsorship of the Philadelphia-based Federation of American Artists, learning graphic art under Armin Landeck at Art Students League in New York. He returned to join as the first reader and head of the department of painting at M. S. University, Baroda, from 1950-59.

Bendre’s works are known for a distinct cubism, fitting neither within the synthetic nor analytic cubism of European modernism. The influence of Western modernism in his works, however, became apparent about two decades into his career, starting with the impressionistic quality of his landscapes in the 1940s. Up until then, his works were characterised by a focus on the human form and expressionistic brushstrokes that were keyed in to the mood of the painting.

Bendre is known for his influential role in the formation of the Baroda Group of Artists in 1956 and in the founding of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. He was a member of the Government of India’s first cultural delegation to China in 1952, and to Japan in 1963. He was honoured with the Padma Shri in 1969, and the Padma Bhushan in 1991, a year before he passed away.