{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O72228"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O72228/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GL0926/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2013GL0926/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2013GL0926","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O72228","accessionNumber":"IS.63-1985","objectType":"Scroll","titles":[{"title":"Scene in jungle","type":"generic title"}],"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\nThe scroll represents a jungle interior in four distinct scenes. Reading from left to right, the first is a clearing surrounded by tall straight trees, then comes an area of dense vegetation packed with long grass, palms and shrubs. The centre point of the scroll is marked by a squat spreading tree. To the right is a clearing where four tribesman with spears either stand or sit resting from their hunting. Beyond a large tree another figure on all fours is tracking an animal.","physicalDescription":"The scroll represents a jungle interior in four distinct scenes. Reading from left to right, the first is a clearing surrounded by tall straight trees, then comes an area of dense vegetation packed with long grass, palms and shrubs. The centre point of the scroll is marked by a squat spreading tree. To the right is a clearing where four tribesman with spears either stand or sit resting from their hunting. Beyond a large tree another figure on all fours is tracking an animal. Despite its size, the scroll reflects the same interest in monumental composition and control of space over a large area as the artist's 1940 mural at Santiniketan titled 'Village Life'.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Mukherjee, Benode Behari","id":"A7037"},"association":{"text":"artist","id":"AAT25103"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"Banana pith","id":"x35610"},{"text":"Paint","id":"AAT15029"}],"techniques":[{"text":"Painting","id":"x30598"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Paint on banana pith","categories":[{"text":"Paintings","id":"THES48917"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"SSEA","id":"THES48598"},"images":["2013GL0926"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"011","id":"THES406580"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Painting","id":""}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"No","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Bengal","id":"x30825"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"ca. 1940","earliest":"1935-01-01","latest":"1944-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"12.7","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"83","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[{"content":"Signature in Bengali on right hand end.","inscriber":{"name":{"text":"","id":""},"association":{"text":"","id":""}},"date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"description":"","interpretation":"","language":"","medium":"","method":"","position":"","script":"","translation":"","transliteration":"","type":"","note":""}],"objectHistory":"Purchased from Mrs L. Mukherjee. RF: 85/920","historicalContext":"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\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":"Scene in jungle, by Benode Behar Mukherjee, painting on banana pith scroll, Bengal, India, 1940","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"G.M. Sheikh, Benode Behari Mukherjee, LKC 23, 1977, pp 11-13"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Abanindranath Tagore and the art of his times, by Jaya Appasamy, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1968, pp 70-74"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Benode Behari Mukherjee, by Peter Neogy, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1965"},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Patel, Divia; Arts of Asia, vol. 45, no. 5, September - October 2015, \"Engaging with Contemporary South Asia\",  p.81, no. 9."}],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["IS.63-1985"],"accessionNumberNum":"63","accessionNumberPrefix":"IS","accessionYear":1985,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-22","recordCreationDate":"2002-12-19","availableToBook":false}}