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Binod Bihari Mukharji | Biography | Life | Paintings

Binod Bihari Mukharji

Binod Bihari, who also had literary interests possessed an intellectual curiosity that led to an analytical awareness of the many modalities of art. His restrained output has refined aesthetic qualities.

It is vibrant and rich in linear rhythm and is inspired by the sturdy simplicity of the folklife of Bengal. He found his themes from everyday life by turning away from what was widely accepted at that time: the revival of illustration of myths and legends.

His bold linear sweeps are reminiscent of certain elements of the ‘Bazar’ paintings of Calcutta. His seemingly swift execution results, as if, from the inner compulsion to achieve the essence of a preconceived pictorial whole in a refinement of stylized shapes.

This lends his work a unique quality of spontaneity and calligraphic charm. His ‘Autumn’, an early landscape, is a masterly rendered work.

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According to Prihwish Neogy:

“The expressionism of his early work may be compared with the reduction means and seeking of the dark emotive essence of the subject, in the paintings and the graphic work of some of the German expressionists of De Burcke Group…….Later in his development, the cumulative effect of his prolonged studies in Chinese and Japanese paintings and the traditional craft forms of India began to be clearly felt.”

In his later works, Binod Behari achieved a remarkable sense of plasticity and organic coherence. His broad treatment of expressive figures has both verve and movement with a feeling of bas-relief.

His important contribution was the direction which he struck, with his contextual themes and organized pictorial relations, exemplified in his ‘In The Grader and Temple Bell’, and in his Fresco, ‘The Medieval Hindu Saints’ at Shantiniketan.

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