{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O72050"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72050/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AL1341/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AL1341/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AL1341","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O72050","accessionNumber":"IS.99-1983","objectType":"Lithograph","titles":[],"summaryDescription":"Benode Behari Mukherjee (1904 - 1980) was one of the pioneers and leading exponents of the Indian Modernist movement. A painter and muralist, Mukherjee, studied at Santiniketan under the tutelage of Bengal School artist Nandalal Bose. He developed a style that drew from a variety of artistic forms, including western modernism, Far Eastern calligraphy and wash technique, Indian Rajput and Mughal paintings and the Ajanta and Bagh frescoes. \r\n\r\nNear the end of his career, the artist suffered from poor eyesight. He was blind when he made this print, which shows his experimentation with form, rhythm and space. While he imagined the colours, the shapes are felt and arranged. The printing was done by Somnath Hore, another of India’s most prominent artists.","physicalDescription":"Lithograph on paper, abstract composition with oval, triangular, rectangular and other shapes in red, blue, olive green, maroon, black in the manner of a collage of paper cut outs. Signed and dated in the bottom right hand corner. \r\n\r\nMrinalini Mukherjee, the daughter of the artist has said that while her father did the layout for this composition, it was Somnath Hore, another of India's most important contemporary artist, who physically created the prints as B.B. Mukherjee was almost blind at this stage.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Mukherjee, Benode Behari","id":"A7037"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Paper","id":"x30308"},{"text":"Printing ink","id":"AAT187371"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Lithography","id":"AAT53271"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Lithograph on paper","categories":[{"text":"Prints","id":"THES48903"},{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"},{"text":"Bonita Trust Indian Paintings Cataloguing Project","id":"THES263148"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2006AL1341"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"008","id":"THES394725"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"lithograph","id":"AAT41379"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Bengal","id":"x30825"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1969","earliest":"1969-01-01","latest":"1969-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Mr. Anthony Stokes, 1983.","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"56.1","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"38","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"1983 dimensions are from the accession register. ","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 the bottom in Bengali, in right hand corner. "}],"objectHistory":"Given by Mr Anthony Stokes. RF: 83/1915","historicalContext":"Binode Behari Mukherjee (1904 - 1980) was one of the pioneers and leading exponents of the Indian Modernist movement. A painter and muralist, Mukherjee, studied at Santiniketan under the tutelage of Bengal School artist Nandalal Bose. He developed a style that drew from a variety of artistic forms, including western modernism, Far Eastern calligraphy and wash technique, Indian Rajput and Mughal paintings and the Ajanta and Bagh frescoes. \r\n\r\nWhilst at Santiniketan, Mukherjee was one of the first students to use oil paint and work in a multitude of media including woodcuts, murals, etching and collage. He learnt calligraphy and traditional Far Eastern wash techniques from visiting Japanese artists. In 1936 he travelled to Japan and was influenced by the abstract compositions of painter Tawaraya Sotatsu. His interest in Western modernism is evidenced by his flexible adoption of a Cubist non-figurative syntax such as multi-perspectival compositions and faceting of planes.  In addition, Mukherjee was inspired by the Ajanta and Bagh frescoes which triggered his interest in mural techniques. ‘Saint Singers of Medieval India’, commissioned by the Visva-Bharati University in 1947 is one such experiment.\r\n\r\nMukherjee taught at Kala Bhavan (1925-1949), the art faculty of Visva Bharati University. In 1947, he joined as a curator the Nepal Government Museum in Kathmandu and from 1951-52, he taught at the Banasthalo Vidyapith School in Rajasthan. In 1958, completely blind, he returned to Kala Bhavan and became its principal.","briefDescription":"Lithograph, abstract composition, by Benode Behari Mukherjee, printed on paper, Bengal, 1969","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Divia Patel, India and Pakistan: Contemporary Prints, Exhibition Leaflet, 1997"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"G.M. Sheikh, Benode Behari Mukherjee, LKC 23, 1977, pp 11-13"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Jaya Appasamy, Abanindranath Tagore and the art of his times, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1968, pp 70-74"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Peter Neogy, Benode Behari Mukherjee, Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi, 1965"}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"Limited edition","id":"THES48862"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[{"text":"abstraction","id":"AAT56508"}],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Mukherjee played a seminal role in the history of contemporary Indian art. He was one of the first to explore other art forms such as European Modernism and Far Eastern art and experiment with the use of form, rhythm and space. He suffered from poor eyesight and was blind when he made this print, and while he imagined the colours, the shapes are felt and arranged. The printing was done by Somnath Hore, who is today one of India's most important practising artists and whose work is also exhibited here.","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null}}],"partNumbers":["IS.99-1983"],"accessionNumberNum":"99","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1983,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"AP6/6","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-01-30","recordCreationDate":"2002-12-16","availableToBook":true}}