Portrait of Haider Ali

Nandalal Bose is one of the most significant Indian artists from the twentieth century, associated with the contextual modernism that was developed in Shantiniketan, Bengal, where Rabindranath Tagore had established a university. Bose is known to have arrived at a style distinctively his own—a canonised, indigenous style associated with the nationalist movement and the search for a rooted Indian identity. In the early part of his career, before he turned experimental, Bose was drawn to the wash technique in which he trained under Abanindranath Tagore. This print of one of his more iconic works—titled Sati—is rendered in earthy tones of ochres and browns and depicts the goddess Sati, Shiva’s consort, in a moment of renunciation.