{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O434363"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O434363/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GL0901/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GL0901/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2013GL0901","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O434363","accessionNumber":"IS.111-1985","objectType":"Painting","titles":[{"title":"New Goddess","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Dharmanarayan Dasgupta was born in Calcutta in Tripura (Agartala) in 1939. Studied at Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan where he obtained a Diploma in Fine Arts in 1960. The artist died in Kolkata in 1997. \r\n\r\nBizarre images crowd his canvases and are reminiscent of the ironic work of Surrealist artist Rene' Magritte and the naive realism of Henri Rousseau: subjects float in the air surveying the world with their legs pointing skyward and distorted beyond recognition. \r\n\r\nHe explains, \"If some of the figures in my paintings are seen suspended in the air and others, upside down, it is so because I am trying to present the predicament of a middle-class man, who does not have a secure foot-hold in our society, who has to make compromises, face disappointments and whose dreams and aspirations are invariably turned down.\" \r\n\r\nIn this painting, executed in oil, a one-dimensional goddess with green hair and a bright pink face rides standing on a multi-headed horse raising both hands. The goddess' palms are open towards the sky - implying offering - and display henna tattoos. Her feet rest on a colourful pois saddle and face the viewer. The head of the horse is in profile and is painted several times in order to suggest movement. The entire scene is depicted without the aid of perspective. Moreover the overall flatness of the painting is enhanced by the matt background, which gives the goddess a peculiar - almost playful- iconic status.","physicalDescription":"In this painting, in oil on canvas, a one-dimensional goddess with green hair and a bright pink face rides standing on a multi-headed horse raising both hands. The goddess' palms are open towards the sky - implying offering - and display henna tattoos. Her feet rest on a colourful pois saddle and face the viewer. The head of the horse is in profile and is painted several times in order to suggest movement. The entire scene is depicted without the aid of perspective. Moreover the overall flatness of the painting is enhanced by the matt background, which gives the goddess a peculiar - almost playful- iconic status.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Dharmanarayan Dasgupta","id":"A35693"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"oil colour","id":"AAT15050"},{"text":"paint","id":"AAT15029"},{"text":"canvas","id":"AAT14078"}],"techniques":[{"text":"painted","id":"AAT54216"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Painted in oil on canvas ","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Religion","id":"THES48900"},{"text":"Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project","id":"THES263148"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2013GL0901"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"002","id":"THES403699"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"painting","id":"AAT33618"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Bengal","id":"x30825"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"20th century","earliest":"1900-01-01","latest":"1999-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"70.6","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"55.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":"Signed and dated in Bengali on lower left."}],"objectHistory":"Purchased from Mrs Sarah Abraham. Rp 86/106 and 1997/861.","historicalContext":"Dharmanarayan Dasgupta was born in Calcutta in Tripura (Agartala) in 1939. Studied at Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan where he obtained a Diploma in Fine Arts in 1960. The artist died in Kolkata in 1997. \r\n\r\nBizarre images crowd his canvases and form an integral part of his art: images that float in the air, survey the world with their legs pointing skyward, distorted beyond recognition. He explains, \"If some of the figures in my paintings are seen suspended in the air and others, upside down, it is so because I am trying to present the predicament of a middle-class man, who does not have a secure foot-hold in our society, who has to make compromises, face disappointments and whose dreams and aspirations are invariably turned down.\" \r\n\r\nDasgupta's canvases mirror society's disparities and the cruelties that exist within it. \"For the ordinary man, life is fraught with peril, and it is this predicament of the bourgeois that attracts me and prompts me to pick up my brush to bring them to the surface.\"","briefDescription":"Painting, 'New Goddess', by Dharmanarayan Dasgupta, painting, watercolour on paper, Bengal, 20th century","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Dharmanarayan Dasgupta 1939-1997 : representing the Bengali modern / essays by Sandip Sarkar, tapati Guha-Thakurta, Catalogue of an exhibition held at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, 13-19 July, 2000, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 27 Sept.-16 Oct., 2000 and Galerie 88, Calcutta, 4-30 November, 2000."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.111-1985"],"accessionNumberNum":"111","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1985,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-07-04","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-25","availableToBook":true}}