One rupee to unify the British currency. In 1834, the East India Company’s government passed the ‘Uniform Coinage Act’, to establish a single rupee currency across the three Presidencies of Bengal, Bombay and Madras. Accordingly, a machine-struck milled silver rupee was launched in 1835 from the Bombay and Calcutta mints. The design was based on… Read more »
The Ganga is one of the largest contributors to plastic pollution in the world’s oceans. But this wasn’t always the case
The fashion evolution and textile legacy of Calcutta and the Bengal Presidency
Let’s trace the tremendous journey of Goddess Durga as she emerged from the mists of time and sprung into the limelight to capture the imagination of Calcutta, Bengal and the rest of the country
The subject of this painting is the bust of a young man. The work is expressionist and connects with the viewer directly. The connection is achieved particularly through the soft but direct gaze of the subject. Artist Jogen Chowdhury has achieved mastery in creating figures using only black lines. These lines are almost always distorted… Read more »
The subject of this minimalist painting is a prostrated man. Artist Jogen Chowdhury’s signature style is in use here – fine, seemingly unbroken lines which create figures infused with feelings of social distress. This painting titled ‘man kneeling’ is a famous composition by Chowdhury first made in 2007. He recreates this image several times thereafter.… Read more »
A conversation with author and historian Rosie Llewellyn-Jones about a city whose beauty decayed and grandeur faded even as history forgot its name
Kuhu Kopariha enters the cinematic universe of India’s great auteur to meet his women, see them through his eyes, and find her own reflection
An interview with Dr Xavier Bray of the Wallace Collection to understand how Bengal came to play an important role in the evolution of the striking Company School paintings
We’ve settled into routines now and a big part of that is just vegging out on the couch, in front of a screen or in bed with a novel. It feels like all we’ve done this lockdown is read and reread books we love and binge-watch shows on Netflix. And so we have a new… Read more »
Hutwa Raj was a feudal estate belonging to the Bhumihar Brahmins of Baghochia dynasty and it was located in the Saran Division of present-day Bihar. Read about Indian kings and their fabulous jewels here. This studio portrait of the Maharaja is an albumen print mounted on a cabinet card. The front of the cabinet card… Read more »
The theme of this painting is the ‘Crucifixion of Christ’. The artwork deliberately shifts our focus to Christ’s harsh, pained facial expressions by eliminating his nailed hands and legs, bleeding on the cross. Jogen Chowdhury’s Christ conveys intense human emotions of distress, agony and pain through both the body and the face. A white halo… Read more »
The subject of this painting is a semi-nude female figure lying on her bed with a love letter. But for the breasts, there would be no way to identify the gender of the subject. The artist has whittled away all extraneous details, not to mention colours, to present a languid, wistful mood. Jogen Chowdhury’s nudes… Read more »