Lot 38: NARAYAN SHRIDHAR BENDRE (1910 - 1992)

NARAYAN SHRIDHAR BENDRE (1910 - 1992) UNTITLED Signed and dated in Devanagari 'Bendre 1950' upper left Oil on masonite board 23 1/2 by 47 in. (60.5 by 120.5 cm.)

In 1943, Bendre was hailed by the Times of India as the leading artist of his generation, and his artistic vision became a driving force for the artists that were to follow after him. For a brief period, he taught MF Husain in Indore; and encouraged other artists, such as KH Ara, to persevere in their vocation. Bendre's inspiration was always drawn directly from the world around him. "I belong to this earth," the artist explained. "I walk on this earth, and I don't think of anything but this earth. Things here are my kind of library; I'm not interested in anything else. As such, I don't create dream paintings. Whatever I have experienced in this world, I paint. Other things are not important to me." (N.S. Bendre: Drawings and Paintings, Vadehra Art Gallery Exhibition Catalogue, 1992) In the current work, Bendre has tenderly portrayed, in western Modernist idiom, the ubiquitous Hanuman langur, a playful long-tailed monkey which is a fixture on the campus of MS University in Baroda, where Bendre taught from 1950 – 1966. This year, 2010, marks the centennial anniversary of NS Bendre's birth.