The Bag Lady

By the 1940s, Indian politics, economy and society underwent great changes. Most of the world including India felt the brutal force of World War II, India however was also amidst its struggle for independence from British rule. The war brought to India many Europeans and American; who came as soldiers and refugees and interactions with the foreigners left an impression on the art practices.

Struck by poverty, famine and the ravages of war, a group of artists of the time rejected the lyricism and romanticism of the Bengal School and felt the need to develop a visual language that would express the anguish, suffering and crisis of urban society. Six among them formed the Calcutta Group. Out of which Paritosh Sen was among the founding members.

Later Paritosh Sen acquired a freer, more lucid almost expressionistic style. In the ‘Bag Lady’ painted while he was in USA on a residency, he glorifies an ordinary worker. The painting is executed in subtle shades of grey, has been rendered with a touch of irony.