Lain Singh Bangdel / Lain Bangdel (Rai) ( (राई)) (1919– October 15, 2002), was

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

's foremost artist, novelist, and art historian. In addition to being a leading authority on Nepalese art, Bangdel is best known as the "father of modern art" and was responsible for introducing the modern trends of

Western art The art of Europe, also known as Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the period bet ...

into

("Bangdel era") with his pioneering one-man exhibition in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

in 1962. As a novelist, he introduced realistic writing in

Nepali literature Nepali literature () refers to literature written in the Nepali language. The Nepali language has been the national language of Nepal since 1958.Himalayan Voices: An Introduction to Modern Nepali Literature' (Voices from Asia), edited and tran ...

during his period in

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

during the 1940s. Born in Darjeeling, India, he studied in Calcutta until 1951, lived in London and Paris until 1961, and finally came to his homeland

in 1961. He also served as Life-Member, Vice-Chancellor, and finally Chancellor of the Royal Nepal Academy (1962-1991).

Early life and career

Bangdel was born in 1919 in

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

to a family from

Khotang district Khotang District () is one of 14 districts of Koshi Province of eastern Nepal. The district, with Diktel as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has a population (2021) of 206,312.

Eastern Nepal The Eastern Development Region ( Nepali: पुर्वाञ्चल विकास क्षेत्र, ''Purwānchal Bikās Kshetra'') was one of Nepal's five development regions. It is also known as Kirata region. It was located at the ...

. His father was Rangalal Rai, and his mother's name was Bimala Rai. He spent his youth in a Himalayan village and, later, graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from the Government College of Arts and Crafts in

in 1945 with a first-class-first. He wrote popular novels in Nepali, namely ''Muluk Bahira'', ''Maitaghar'', and ''Langada ko Saathi'' (the first realistic literature in Nepali), during his stay in Calcutta. In 1952, he traveled to Europe where he studied art in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. These formative years in Paris was critical time for him, where he met and developed close friendships with other international artists including the Indian artists

Paritosh Sen Paritosh Sen () (26 September 1918 – 22 October 2008) was a leading Indian artist. He was born in Dhaka (then known as Dacca), the present-day capital of Bangladesh. He was a founder member of the Calcutta Group, an art movement established ...

, Padamsee, the Indonesian artist

Affandi Affandi (18 May 1907 – 23 May 1990) was an Indonesian artist. Born in Cirebon, West Java, as the son of R. Koesoema, who was a surveyor at a local sugar factory, Affandi finished his upper secondary school in Jakarta. He gave up his studies to p ...

, and Austrian artist

Soshana Afroyim Soshana Afroyim (born Susanne Schüller; September 1, 1927 – December 9, 2015) was an Austrian Painting, painter of the Modernism period. Soshana was a full-time artist and traveled frequently, exhibiting her work internationally. During her jo ...

. While in Paris in the 1950s, his meetings with

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

and

Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...

made a deep impression. Bangdel was the first Nepali artist to study and work in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and made a name for himself as an artist with his distinctive, non-traditional

ese style.

Work

Bangdel stayed in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

until he was invited by the late

King Mahendra Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (; 11 June 1920 – 31 January 1972) was King of Nepal from 13 March 1955 until his death in 1972. He led the 1960 Nepal coup d'état, 1960 coup d'état, in which he dismissed the government, jailed other political ...

to establish the modern art movement in

in 1961. From 1968 to 1969, he served as a Fulbright Professor at

Denison University Denison University is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio, United States. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. It was first called ...

in Ohio and taught Nepali History of Art. He was elected to head the Royal Nepal Academy in 1972 and, during two terms, he dedicated himself to further research of

Nepalese painting Nepalese Painting or Nepali Painting begins with the religious paintings with Hindu and Buddhist subjects, almost all Newa art by the Newari people of the Kathmandu valley. These traditional paintings can be found in the form of either wall paint ...

and art history. In the years from 1982 to 1991, he published his groundbreaking studies on Nepalese art history, including ''Early Sculptures of Nepal (1982).'' ''2500 Years of Nepalese Art (German Edition, 1985 ),'
Stolen Images of Nepal (1989)
''Inventory of Stone Sculptures of the Kathmandu Valley'' (1991). His many accolades include the "Commendatore" from the

Italian Government The government of Italy is that of a democratic republic, established by the Italian constitution in 1948. It consists of Legislature, legislative, Executive (government), executive, and Judiciary, judicial subdivisions, as well as of a head of ...

for his contribution in the field of Arts and the "National Order of Arts and Letters" from the Republic of France (France's highest honor in the field of Arts). In addition, he was awarded

Knight Commander Knight Commander (or Dame Commander) is the second most senior grade of seven British orders of chivalry, three of which are dormant (and one of them continues as a German house order). The rank entails admission into knighthood, allowing the rec ...

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. After his retirement from the Royal Nepal Academy, Bangdel engaged with renewed effort and success in his painting activities, and further documented the rich and unique art history of the

Kathmandu Valley The Kathmandu Valley (), also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley (, Newar language, Nepal Bhasa: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑑅 𑐐𑐵𑑅, नेपाः गाः), National Capital Area, is a bowl-shaped valley located in the Himalayas, Hima ...

. Lain Singh Bangdel died in 2002. His extraordinary life has been documented in a book entitled
Against the Current: The Life of Lain Singh Bangdel-Writer, Painter and Art Historian of Nepal
, by Don Messerschmidt and Dina Bangdel (Bangkok: Orchid Press, 2004; ).His biography by Narendra Raj Prasai is also available in Nepali and English translation(The Glory of Nepal). His memoirs of his Paris years (1952–61) was published in 2010:

(edited by Dina Bangdel, Kathmandu: Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 2010) and was awarded the "2010 Book of the Year."

References

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070625114958/http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu/loststolen/lsnepal.html Lost and Stolen Images: Nepal
CPProt.net New Nepal art history 'Book triggers debate on history'

Lain’s legacy- Nepali Times
*
Lain Singh Bangdel: Interviews: Traditional Nepalese Arts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bangdel, LS Nepalese artists 1919 births 2002 deaths People from Darjeeling Nepalese male writers Art historians Government College of Art & Craft alumni University of Calcutta alumni Indian people of Nepalese descent Indian emigrants to Nepal Rai people