Chandra Bhatacharjee

The paintings by Chandra Bhattacharjee are languid and far from the city. Dusky men and women go about their daily lives, doing their tasks, in an otherworldly place unaffected by the chaos of city life. Bhattacharjee’s compositions are shaped by the rural and tribal communities he worked with, especially the Calcutta-based ‘Santhal’ tribe. His paintings have a textural aspect that is strikingly similar to the traditional mud walls covered in cow dung found in these areas. He received a gold medal from the Rabindra Bharati University, Calcutta, in 1986. 

He has held several groups as well as solo exhibitions of his works in Delhi, Mumbai, and Calcutta. Bhattacharjee’s paintings include colours that are both muted and brilliant. The senses are calmed by warm pinks and rich blues that are broken up by white spaces. He applies a black crosshatching technique over the colour to give his colours more depth. This technique is more commonly utilised in pencil works. The narrative that Bhattacharjee paints is one that unfolds naturally from the artist into the canvas, having no start or finish. Bhattacharjee’s invention is a limitless realm where animals, humans, and fantastical creatures all live in harmony. Bhattacharjee has a solid intellectual foundation while being affected by themes of rural and tribal life. He completed his studies in Calcutta at the Indian College of Art and Draughtsmanship.