Mukul Dey
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mukul Chandra Dey (23 July 1895 – 1 March 1989) was one of five children of Purnashashi Devi and Kula Chandra Dey.''The International Who's Who 1943–44''. George Allen & Unwin, 8th edition, London, 1943, p. 197. He was a student of
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 â€“ 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
's Santiniketan and is considered as a pioneer of
drypoint Drypoint is a printmaking technique of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a plate (or "matrix") with a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp metal or diamond point. In principle, the method is practically iden ...
-
etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...
in India. The entire family of Mukul Dey had artistic talents, the brother Manishi Dey was a well-known painter, and his two sisters, Annapura and Rani Chanda, were accomplished in arts and crafts as well.Satyasri Ukil: "Manishi Dey: The Elusive Bohemian." art etc. news & views, February 2012 Mukul Dey was married to Bina Roy, who was from Khanakul, Bengal. They had one daughter named Manjari, whom they affectionately called Bukuma. Manjari was later married to Shantanu Ukil, a leading painter of the Bengal School of Art.Satyasri Ukil: "Shantanu Ukil: Profile of the Painter." Mukul Dey Archives, undated - retrieved 03.Oct.201

/ref>


Early years

He was the first Indian artist to travel abroad for the purpose of studying printmaking as an art. While in Japan in 1916, Mukul Dey studied under Yokoyama Taikan and Kanzan Shimomura at Tokyo and Yokohama. At Yokohama
Rabindranath Tagore Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 â€“ 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
and Mukul Dey lived as guests of Japanese silk-merchant Tomitaro Hara at his famous residential complex Sankeien, enjoying a rare opportunity to study classical Chinese and
Nihonga ''Nihonga'' () is a Japanese style of painting that typically uses mineral pigments, and occasionally ink, together with other organic pigments on silk or paper. The term was coined during the Meiji period (1868–1912) to differentiate it from ...
style Japanese paintings. Especially the masterpieces of Sesshu Toyo. Dey received his initial training at Rabindranath Tagore's Santiniketan. He then travelled to America from Japan in 1916 to learn the technique of etching under James Blanding Sloan and Bertha Jaques in Chicago, to whom Dey was introduced by American artist Roi Partridge and his wife
Imogen Cunningham Imogen Cunningham (; April 12, 1883 – June 23, 1976) was an American photographer known for her botanical photography, nude photography, nudes, and industrial landscapes. Cunningham was a member of the California-based Group f/64, known for its ...
. Mukul Dey remained a life-member of Chicago Society of Etchers. On his return to India in 1917, Dey concentrated on creating etchings as a fine art. He also supported himself through making portrait drawings of the rich and famous, and turned these into etchings. In 1920 Dey once again travelled abroad for the purpose of study, this time learning etching and engraving under Frank Short and Muirhead Bone. He studied at both the
Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
and the
Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public university, public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City, London, White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design uni ...
in London. At Slade School of Art Mukul Dey was a student of Professor
Henry Tonks Henry Tonks, Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, FRCS (9 April 1862 – 8 January 1937) was a British surgeon and later draughtsman and painter of figure subjects, chiefly interiors, and a Caricature, caricaturist. He became an influentia ...
. An exhibition of Dey's drawings and paintings were shown, including ten copies of paintings at Ajanta and 1 at the Bagh Caves, courtesy of Lady Grant, at 59 Onslow Square, London, on 4 February 1924. His work had already been shown at the
Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...
and the
New English Art Club The New English Art Club (NEAC) is a society for contemporary artists that was founded in London, England, in 1886 as an alternative venue to the Royal Academy. The NEAC holds an annual exhibition of paintings and drawings at the Mall Galleries ...
. According to the Polish sculptor Stanislaw Szukalski, when Mukul was in America, he showed Szukalski his drawings, which impressed the artist. He then told Szukalski of his desire to venture into Paris, to "finish his study", despite the extreme disapproval of this decision by Mukul's mentor, Tagore. Szukalski thought of Paris as a factory for the "brainwashing of the public of every nation", into thinking Kandinski, Picasso, etc., were masters. Szukalski told Mukul, "You are already a fine artist, but with your silly anticipation of finding miraculous Culture in Europe, you will swallow as a new religion any pseudo-movement, any Ism of the misfits who abuse painting and sculpture with combs, forks and brushes stuck in their noses to give an easy semblance of individuality. Later come to Europe, with enough belief in yourself to look upon European Decadence with CONTEMPT and the ability to select really worthy examples of Art from all ages and Cultures". This argument persuaded Mukul to return to Santiniketan, to the delight of Tagore. Mukul Dey chose an essentially Western medium to portray various sides of Indian life. Unlike artists such as Haren Das, whose woodcut printing technique was more indigenous to Indian culture, Dey concentrated on drypoint etching, a thoroughly European practice. Regardless of his adopted Western technique, Dey chose subjects such as river scenes in Bengal, traditional baul singers, the markets of
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 ...
, or the life of Santhal villagers in the Birbhum district, near the
Santiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: Help:IPA/Bengali, ƒantiniketÉ”n is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendra ...
art school. When the Tagore family of Kolkata created the Vichitra Club at their ancestral home of Jorasanko, Mukul Dey became an active member. At Vichitra Club the young and upcoming artists like
Nandalal Bose Nandalal Bose (3 December 1882 – 16 April 1966) was one of the pioneers of modern Indian art and a key figure of Santiniketan: The Making of a Contextual Modernism, Contextual Modernism. A pupil of Abanindranath Tagore, Bose was known for his ...
, Asit Kumar Haldar, Mukul Dey and Narayan Kashinath Deval were encouraged to experiment in ever new creative mediums and art forms.Mukul Dey Archives
/ref> In 1925, Dey published a book on the cave paintings in Ajanta and Bagh, which he cherished and used as an inspiration. The vibrant language of the descriptions reflect his enthusiasm for the cave paintings. He later published and illustrated various other books during his career.


Professional career

Dey was appointed the first Indian Principal of the Government School of Art, Calcutta, in 1928. Since Dey was committed to imposing an Indian identity on the then British-controlled art establishment, he quickly drove teachers too closely linked with Company School painting out of the institution.Partha Mitter, The Triumph of Modernism, Oxford University Press, 2007 While at Government School of Art, Calcutta Mukul Dey was responsible for starting a women's section there. Prior to his time only men could join this institution as art students. Gracefully drawn images of Bengali villagers executed in dry-point have become what Dey is most associated with. Some of his finer works are dry-point etchings that have been hand-coloured with watercolors, coloured pencils, or thin washes of ink.Shukla Sawant, ''Manifestations II : Indian Art in the 20th Century'', Delhi Art Gallery, 2004 Dey is also remembered for his portraits of various Indian personalities, including members of the Tagore and Tata families,
Albert Einstein Albert Einstein (14 March 187918 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist who is best known for developing the theory of relativity. Einstein also made important contributions to quantum mechanics. His mass–energy equivalence f ...
, and
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ru ...
. He also depicted lesser known personalities, such as Josephine MacLeod, the promoter of
Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda () (12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindus, Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. Vivekananda was a major figu ...
's Ramakrishna order at
Belur Math Belur Math () is the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission, founded by Swami Vivekananda, the chief disciple of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. It is located in Belur, West Bengal, India on the west bank of Hooghly River. Bel ...
. Incidentally, it was Josephine MacLeod who first brought Okakura Kakuzo to India from Japan in 1901–1902. Manishi Dey, the younger brother of Mukul, was a member of the
Progressive Artists' Group The Progressive Artists' Group (PAG), was a group of modern artists, mainly based in Bombay, from its formation in 1947. Though it lacked any particular style, there might be said to have been a move towards a synthesis of influences from India ...
and a prominent painter of the Bengal School of Art. In contrast to his more steady brother Mukul, Manishi travelled tirelessly throughout India.


Legacy

Mukul Dey's works are found in the collections of the
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
, London, the Indian Museum, Kolkata, the
National Gallery of Modern Art The National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) is the premier art gallery under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The main museum at Jaipur House in New Delhi was established on 29 March 1954 by the Government of India, with subsequent b ...
NGMA in Mumbai, and the National Gallery of Art, New Delhi. The Mukul Dey Archives are housed at Mukul Dey's former home, named Chitralekha, at Santiniketan. He was also the illustrator for many book projects, one of his earliest was a scholarly book ''Shantiniketan Bolpur School of Rabindranath Tagore'', which he illustrated for the later
Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
winner in 1916.


Bibliography

* Pearson, WW. with illustrations by Mukul Chandra Dey. Shantiniketan: The Bolpur School of Rabindranath Tagore. The Macmillan Company, 1916. * Mukul Chandra Dey. My Pilgrimages To Ajanta Bagh. Published in English by George H. Doran Co, New York, USA, 1925

* Mukul Chandra Dey. Twenty Portraits. 194

* Mukul Chandra Dey. Birbhum Terracottas. 195

* Mukul Chandra Dey. Amar Kotha, ed. Visva Bharati, 1995 A posthumously published autobiography


References


External links


Mukul Dey Archives

Delhi Art Gallery


{{DEFAULTSORT:Dey, Mukul Bengali male artists Bengali Hindus 20th-century Indian engravers 1895 births 1989 deaths Fellows of the Lalit Kala Akademi Visva-Bharati University alumni Academic staff of the University of Calcutta People associated with Santiniketan Indian arts administrators Painters from West Bengal