Gopala Milking The Cow

Mukul Chandra Dey (1895–1989) was one of the first to perfect the Indian art of printmaking in the modern context and one of the important names in the Bengal School of Art. Dey was Rabindranath Tagore’s student and was inspired by the ideals of the Swadeshi movement and the art revival expressed by Abanindranath Tagore. In 1916, Dey left for the U.S. and Europe where he learnt printmaking under several great masters such as James Blanding Sloan and Bertha Jacques in Chicago and continued his studies later at the Royal College of Art in London. He was the first Indian artist to study abroad to learn drypoint etching specifically and created a link between the Western techniques of printmaking and Indian themes. Dey’s artistic style shows a combination of the principles of academic realism, the Japanese aesthetic tradition and Indian cultural elements. Dey made use of heavy copper gauges in preparing them to mirror finish. Drypoint technique means the process where the sharp steel needle is used to etch the lines on the metal plate. While in traditional etching acid baths are used to create the lines, the process of drypoint allows the artist to salve the etching manually and create rough metal edges called burrs. When the burrs are inked, they retain additional colors thereby creating soft, velvety lines in the Dey’s works. Dey was a kind of artist who wanted to work physically with the metal plate and sometimes using his own fingers he would push the ink in the grooves or burrs to get the desired depth. The particular print made by him known as "Gopala Milking The Cow" is used as an example of Dey's creativity when he colored his prints by hand. In this artwork, Dey portrays the peaceful and rhythmic tempo of rural life in India. We see Gopala squatting close to the cow and milking it. Dey demonstrates his expertise in the art of observational line drawing in the way he renders the body and anatomy of the cow as well Gopala's humble stance. He skillfully executes cross-hatching and fine drypoint line work to create texture, shading, and dimensional depth in the form of the smooth skin of the cow and the folds in the drapery. By using soft colors, Dey adds color to the original black-and-white print while directing everybody's attention to the lines used by the artist. The rural landscape creates a feeling of timelessness, purity, and devotion in the audience. Dey turns a mythical subject by using realistic style and decolonizes Western methods of printmaking and brings forth his home country's culture and traditions.