Abhiman (Wounded Vanity)

Hemen Majumdar or Hemendranath Majumdar was a prominent Bengali painter who aw born in present day Kishoreganj in Bangladesh. He showed an interest and great promise in the field and painting and was initially associated with the Government School of Art and later the Jubilee Art School in Calcutta. He was also a co-founder of the Indian Academy of Fine Arts in 1919. His artistic style dealt with academic realism often portraying idealized female figures, portraits, mythological subjects and scenes of everyday life. He expertise in combing technical realism with the sense of beauty, sensuality and a soft elegance is reflected through his renowned naturalistic oil painting portraits. The painting titled ‘Abhiman’ by Hemendranath Majumdar does not capture simple anger or vanity. The word ‘abhiman’ is a part of the bengali vocabulary and it captures the unique essence of hurt pride, emotional withdrawal, wounded affection and silent resentment. The woman in the painting faces away from the viewers which gives us an insight into the dejected mental state of the woman. The two flowers are significant. One is held in her hand while another lies on the floor, which may suggest separation, romance or an emotional encounter. The detailed posture gives a sense of softness and idealized conventional female beauty. The warm tones, earthly color pallette contrasts with then pink and gold of the saree to emphasize and reinforce the graceful yet melancholic posture. Overall, the painting is a brilliant example of academic realism and romanticism blended with Indian domestic life. Through this painting the artist conveys the themes of beauty, dignity, melancholia, isolation, unspoken secrets and deep sense of longing.