| Medium | : | Acrylic |
|---|---|---|
| Height | : | 20 inch / 50.8 cm |
| Width | : | 12 inch / 30.5 cm |
| Surface | : | Board |
| Style | : | Figurative Paintings |
| Dimension | : | W: 30.5 cm × H: 50.8 cm |
| Year | : | 2005 |
A striking set of two expressionist paintings by Paritosh Sen depicting solitary figures holding food objects with quiet intensity and emotional depth. Through distorted forms, earthy tones, and subtle humour, the works explore themes of hunger, innocence, survival, and the poetry of everyday human life.
Paritosh Sen | Boy Eating Watermelon & Boy Eating Corn | Acrylic on Board | 12 x 20 inches | 2005 (Set of 2 Works)
This compelling set of two paintings by Paritosh Sen transforms ordinary moments of eating into deeply expressive studies of human instinct, survival, and innocence. Rendered in Sen’s signature expressionist style, the figures appear childlike yet psychologically layered, carrying an emotional rawness that feels both intimate and unsettling.
In one work, the figure clutches an ear of corn with quiet intensity, while in the companion painting, another holds a slice of watermelon close to the chest as though protecting a treasured possession. These simple acts of holding food become symbolic gestures — evoking hunger, memory, pleasure, and the fragile rituals of everyday existence. Sen elevates these mundane objects into emotional anchors, allowing the viewer to reflect on nourishment not only as a physical need but as a deeply human experience.
The elongated bodies, oversized eyes, and sparse anatomical detailing create an atmosphere of vulnerability and introspection. The earthy ochres and muted flesh tones are interrupted by vivid accents of red, yellow, and green, bringing rhythm and warmth into the compositions. Despite their apparent simplicity, the paintings possess a powerful emotional tension, balancing humour with melancholy in a way that is distinctly Paritosh Sen.
Together, the pair functions almost like a visual conversation — two solitary figures united through gesture, appetite, and silent contemplation. The works reveal Sen’s remarkable ability to observe human behaviour with empathy and irony, capturing the poetry hidden within ordinary life. This set stands as an evocative example of modern Indian expressionism, where simplicity of subject gives rise to profound emotional resonance.
Drawn to art through the pages of the bengali art journal Prabasi, Paritosh Sen ran away from his home in Dacca (Dhaka), now in Bangladesh, to learn art in Madras.
Uninfluenced by the European modern art trends till the 1940s, Sen experimented with a vocabulary drawn from Indian idioms. Exposure to the works of Vincent van Gogh, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gaugin, and other masters, through their reproductions during his teaching years at Art College, Indore, sparked off Sen’s interest in form. In 1942, he participated in the only exhibition of the Calcutta Group, of which he was a founder member.
However, it was Sen’s visit to Paris in 1949 that saw him formally acquainted with European art; he also met Pablo Picasso on this trip. Sen returned to India in 1954 and subsequently made paintings with themes from everyday life. His spontaneous response to the traumatic socio-political changes in West Bengal in the 1970s resulted in a series, where, along with large canvases, he installed a papier-mâché sculpture conveying a poster-like simplification of pop art, inspired by his travels in Mexico and Egypt.
Sen wrote on art for leading English and Bengali journals. In 1986, he wrote and illustrated a story in English, published by National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. The French government conferred on him the L’officier de l’ordre des arts et des lettres and the Lalit Kala Akademi honoured him with the title of Lalit Kala Ratna in 2004. He passed away on 22 October 2008 in Kolkata.
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