Poster-making was one of the most significant propaganda arms of the nationalist movement in early twentieth century India, relying as it did on strong and articulate visuals to impress a largely illiterate crowd that was needed for rallies and protests. Written in Hindi at the top of the poster we see ‘Vande Mataram’ meaning ‘Mother, I bow to thee!’, written by the Bengali novelist Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, and later chosen as the National song of India in 1950; and ‘Jai Hind’, which was a political slogan coined by Zain-ul Abideen Hasan, meaning ‘victory to India’. As this poster displays, men were overwhelmingly represented in the national movement as well as its popular representations. Some of the figures on this poster include Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak—a popular leader from present-day Maharashtra; Rabindranath Tagore—the Nobel laureate from Bengal; Jawaharlal Nehru—the famous political leader from the United Provinces, and the first Prime Minister of Independent India; Mahatma Gandhi—popularly described as ‘The Father of the Nation’; Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose—the firebrand leader from Bengal who led the Indian National Army during the Second World War, and many other figures from different regions of the Indian subcontinent. Arranged around a devotional lamp, the poster seeks to enshrine their memory in the nationalist consciousness.
Printed at L. N. Sharma
Untitled
1955
Offset print on paper
Enquiry Form
Printed at L. N. Sharma
Untitled
1955
Offset print 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.