Benode Behari Mukherjee was a famous Indian painter from Santiniketan. He was born in 1904 and studied at Kala Bhavana under Nandalal Bose and Rabindranath Tagore and later he himself became a teacher there. He had very weak eyes from childhood because his one eye was blind and other was also not in a good condition but he kept working and even taught students like Satyajit Ray. The painting Men in Fields was made in about 1956. The artwork shows farmers working in a field. Their bodies are shown bent and the painting does not show thier clear faces. The workers are are engrossed in their work. The artwork captures only their work and movement. The men in the scene are depicted as hardworking. The background is depicted in a light manner. The birds in the background are shown as part of nature and their presence fills the sky in the painting. The painting looks simple but holds a deep meaning as it shows respect for poor village workers and their daily hard life. It is not about beauty but about truth. Santiniketan artists believed art should come from real life around us and that is why this painting is important because it tells us that simple people also deserve to be painted. It also shows how an artist can work even with so much physical problem and still make honest art.
For me, Men in Fields is a great example of a strong relationship between humans and nature. Two figures in the picture – one man standing and another sitting – are surrounded by tall plants, trees and birds in a field. What attracts my attention most of all is that earthy colors and plain figures in the painting give a very natural atmosphere. For me, the artist who created this work, Benode Behari Mukherjee, portrays common rural life with thoughtfulness and artistry. What is more, figures in the picture seem to be a part of their surroundings rather than detached from nature. Moreover, the depiction of birds and plants can also symbolize freedom, growth and the life cycle itself. Rough outlines and plain forms allow for expressing the idea without much detailing. For me, Men in Fields can serve as a reminder that nature is an essential part of our everyday life.
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By: Taalyah Ahmad
Men in Fields, Benode Behari Mukherjee, circa 1956. A quiet scene of rural life, with two men, amongst trees, grasses and birds. The painting is more about the relationship of people to the natural world than it is about any particular event. A man is shown sitting on the ground and another man stands nearby holding a long staff. The scene is as if an ordinary moment in the life of the village, with simple postures. Mukherjee uses loose brushstrokes in earthy tones of brown, yellow and green to give the landscape a natural look. The trees and vegetation are rendered with simplified forms and the birds scattered across the sky give movement to the composition. The figures do not have detailed facial expressions and the environment becomes just as important. There is a certain peacefulness to the men and the landscape co-existing. Mukherjee does not try to make rural life sound grand or dramatic. He finds meaning, instead, in its everyday simplicity. Here is reflected this interest in ordinary people and their surroundings, in the way that a familiar scene can be made significant by close observation and a knowledge of nature and human life.
