Asit Kumar Haldar’s The Man shows the human figure in an unusual highly geometric form. In Haldar’s paintings the body is not rendered realistically but constructed with sharp triangular, rectangular and angular planes as well as bold black outlines. The face is particularly striking; conventional features are exchanged for concentric geometric shapes. The figure looks almost broken, giving a feeling of dynamic which enhances visual tension. The artwork is created with muted colors of ochre yellow, brown, cream and black. The yellow and ochre colors influence energy and vitality. The brown color connects the figure to the earth and gives the painting a natural quality. While the cream offers a sense of openness and contrast, black offers definition and depth with a strong structured impression.
The Man, painted in 1940, was created during an important experimental period in Haldar’s career. A leading figure of the Bengal School and a disciple of Abanindranath Tagore, he did not remain confined to its conventional revivalist style. Haldar used other techniques and movements, and DAG indicates that The Man is a notable example of his engagement with Cubism. The forms, planes, and lines of the work reflect this influence.
The subject of the painting can be seen as more than a portrait. Haldar dissects the human body and reduces it into abstract shapes making “the man” a modern-day symbol of humanity. The disjointed construction of the recognizable figure suggests that identity can certainly complex complex, layered and always changing. The artwork is an expression of Haldar’s adaptability to fuse Indian artistic traditions with modernist experimentation making The Man a good example of Haldar’s contribution to modern Indian art.
The familiar stick man imagined in robust Cubist form is striking to the observer due to the bizarre shape. As stated above the modern complexities of being a human in an India during the transition period of British leaving and new independent India coming into its own is imagined in the way the background and the figure is drawn.
