Born in 1885 in Wai, Maharashtra, Shankar Hari Godbole became one of the most well-known artists known for painting scenes of rural India. He was skilled in portraiture and landscape alongside watercolour painting. He loved collecting art objects wherever he saw them, and the vase seen in the painting comes from his prized possession. The painting is a still life in an impressionistic style of a Japanese vase. Even though the focus of the painting is the vase, the background is equally mesmerising. On the right, a silk cloth can be seen and on the left is a figure that looks like a Japanese fan, painted in a dream-like state compliments the centre of the painting, binding all these components together. The placement of fruits around the vase adds to the depth of the painting, and the deep blue background increases the aesthetic value of the entire artwork. Even in this still life painting, a moment of mystery is added when one pays attention to the two ladies conversing on the vase; this holds the interest of the viewer. All these minute details that we see in this still art tell us how refined in his art was S.H. Godbole.
I feel drawn into the quiet intensity of this painting as if I’m standing before the vase myself absorbing its silent story. The deep blue background wraps around me calm yet mysterious. My eyes wander from the delicate silk cloth to the dream-like fan then settle on the fruits that seem almost alive in their stillness. The vase fascinates me most especially the two women painted upon it frozen mid-conversation whispering secrets I cannot hear. I sense Godbole’s devotion in every detail and I’m left with a feeling that something more lingers beneath the surface just beyond my understanding.
