Size Matters

The exhibition “Reflections: Man and Nature in the paintings of Bireswar Sen” features over 75 works from the collection of the NGMA, apart from photographs and belongings of the artist borrowed from the Bireswar Sen Family Trust, including his porcelain palette that still bears the marks of paints he once used to bring his canvases to life, his wooden drawing board and personal portraits. Sculptor Adwaita Gadanayak, Director General of the NGMA, who spearheaded the curatorial team of the show, says, “It was when we were moving the works of artists from our store house, as part of our shifting plans, that I came across Sen’s works. These are such small paintings that they cannot be viewed clearly without a lens and I was fascinated with how an artist could paint on such tiny canvases with such depth and detail. I immediately decided to show his works and got them framed. After observing landscapes, he would return to the studio and replicate them on his canvases, based on recollections and notes. His memory was so strong and it was surprising that we hadn’t presented him yet.”

Bireswar Sen’s work

Man and nature appear to be Sen’s most painted subjects, as he tried capturing the grandeur of nature, changing terrains and the mighty Himalayas. There is a pilgrim seated and meditating at the opening of a cave, a Sherpa making his way through the thick bed of snow and two ant-sized human figures revelling in the beauty of a tall white waterfall behind them. A saffron-clad sadhu prays in front of Mount Kailash in Sadhu on the Passes of Kailash and another work titled Nomads has a member of the nomadic tribe, moving from one place to another, walking through an abandoned landscape with his cattle. Trained in the Bengal School style, under the tutelage of painters such as Abanindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose, Sen’s works bear a stark resemblance to Russian painter Nicholas Roerich, with whom he stayed in the Kullu Valley. Roerich made India his home after moving to the country in 1931 and was often referred to as “the wizard of eastern landscapes” by noted art scholar OC Gangoly.

Bireswar Sen’s work that is a part of the exhibition

Through the works on display, the exhibition poses many interesting questions for the viewers — for instance, why did the artist from Kolkata chose to paint grand landscapes in such small formats and why most of his protagonists appeared to be in search of a higher calling in these natural surroundings? In a catalogue essay for Sen’s 2010 exhibition “Between Heaven and Earth”, renowned art expert BN Goswamy rightly summed up: “One becomes aware early on of a seeking in Bireswar Sen’s mind, and of the consciousness of a higher presence… Again and again he appears to return to the theme of searching, to an endless quest.”