Woman with Pitcher

Woman with Pitcher is a painting by Hemendranath Mazumdar (Hemen Majumdar) from 1921. The work is from the artist's formative years when he was working in the style of naturalistic approach that was to form the pillar of his modern Indian art. Majumdar worked in the academic tradition that laid more emphasis on careful observation, convincing anatomy, realistic modelling and the depiction of light and texture. A woman and a pitcher are the main components of the composition as identified by the title. Drawing on his academic training, Majumdar portrayed the figure not as an abstract symbol but in the context of daily life in the home and rural areas, of which the figure remains a frequent theme in depictions of women in south Asian art. This focus on visible detail set his work apart from those that brought the forms of India back into revival or simplified interpretations of the traditions. Majumdar was active at a time when Indian art was the subject of much discussion regarding its direction in colonial times. Bengal School, a group of which Abanindranath Tagore was a member, promoted alternatives to the western academic style. Instead Majumdar adopted a realist style, inspired by academic painting in Europe. The freedom of Indian art in modern times is reflected in his career: in the same time, Indian artists can react against cultural changes with utterly different means and artistic concerns. The painting is therefore relevant to the study of Majumdar's style in paints representation of figures in the early 1920s. Any identification of the woman, the meaning of the pitcher, and the exact location, however, must be treated with great caution, and should only be accepted with the backing of a catalogue entry or additional scholarly research. All attribution details should be obtained from the collection record and NOT from the art work itself.