Bengal’s contribution to the Indian art scene has been longstanding and enormous. In a tribute to the Bengal masters, Delhi Art Gallery is showcasing over 400 works by 104 artists, making it perhaps one of the largest show of art from Bengal held under one roof in the recent past. A cultural efflorescence that began over two centuries ago in Bengal has been documented well in the exhibition.

As you step inside the gallery, nestled amidst trendy shops and boutiques of the ubercool Hauz Khas village, mythology and religious themes welcome you. A Kali here with embossed gold ornaments and a Kali there with slanted eyes captured the early Bengal art influence: In the 19th century, local and folk artists began creating their paintings on mythological and religious themes traditionally done on cloth and paper, known as Kalighat pats.

The traditional figures make way to the works of ‘gentlemen artists’. Mid-19th century showed the emergence of western techniques of oil painting that had attracted the local artists and this time saw the entrance of European art into Bengal and was called ‘Early Bengal Oils’. Works of BP Banerjee and JP Gangooly are a perfect example of the modern techniques.

One could also clearly see an interesting blend of academic oil portraiture and traditional Indian art, such as miniature paintings, influencing not only local artists but English artist Benjamin Hudson as well, whose work was also part of the exhibition.

The early 20th century works are mostly done with oil and sometimes gold paints that are used to highlight: The paintings include works such as Women with Lamp by AP Bagchi and A Nude Study by Ranada Prasad Gupta. Prosanto Roy’s 1950s Arabian Night series illustrate his ability as a master storyteller.

The exhibition has a huge collection of the era that saw nationalism as the primary theme of all the art forms, spearheaded by Rabindranath Tagore. Called Bengal school, it created dreamy imageries on mythological themes inspired from Ajanta cave paintings, through its use of the technique of watercolour wash. Mighty names such as Nandalal Bose, Asit Haldar, Kshitindranath Majumdar, Surendranath Ganguly and DP Roy Chowdhury emerged in the era that shaped the course of Bengal art.

The exhibition also showcases the works of the modernist masters such as Somnath Hore, Prodosh Das Gupta, Chittaprosad, Rabin Mondal, Bikash Bhattacharjee, Jogen Chowdhury, Nikhil Biswas, Bijan Choudhary, Nirode Majumdar, BC Sanyal, Gopal Sanyal, Meera Mukherjee, Sankho Chaudhuri, Chintamoni Kar and others, as well as those claiming allegiance to an older Bengal order, such as Bireswar Sen and Biren De.

The exhibition, Art of Bengal, is on till March 10.