Women, Figurative

Medium:Acrylic
Height:22 inch / 55.9 cm
Width:15 inch / 38.1 cm
Dimension:W: 38.1 cm × H: 55.9 cm

Bold acrylic painting on board depicting a stylized female figure against a vivid blue ground; an expressive modern work characterized by strong lines, rich texture, and powerful feminine presence.

Description

Rabin Mondal | Women | Acrylic on Board | 22 x 15 inches | 2017

This expressive acrylic painting presents a frontal female figure set against a vibrant blue background, rendered with bold outlines and richly textured, layered brushstrokes. The figure’s face carries a calm, self-possessed expression, while the body is modeled with warm tones of ochre, red, and yellow that emphasize vitality and physical presence. Thick black contours define the form, lending it a sculptural strength and iconic clarity. The loosely applied background, alive with gestural marks, contrasts with the solidity of the figure, enhancing her prominence within the composition. Jewelry elements at the neck subtly suggest cultural identity, while the overall treatment elevates the figure beyond portraiture into an archetype of femininity, resilience, and quiet power.

Rabin Mondal was inspired by primitive and tribal art, its potent simplifications and raw energy.
The son of a mechanical draughtsman, Rabin Mondal took to drawing and painting at the age of twelve when he injured his knee and was confined to bed.
The Bengal famine of 1943 and the Calcutta communal riots of 1946 deeply impacted his psyche; he joined the Communist Party and became an activist. Mondal’s final refuge was art as the ultimate weapon of protest.
Mondal’s figuration derived from a growing abhorrence towards mankind’s moral decay in all spheres of life. The cubo-futuristic angularities of forms within the pictorial space arranged around them evolved into a series of paintings depicting highly distinct human figures that struggled to live a hero’s life in a mocking but tragic world.
Mondal’s images have a deeply felt iconic appearance. The series Queen, King, Man represent figures that are static, totemic, tragicomic, ruthlessly shattered and ruined. Having subverted the classical canons of harmony and beauty, Mondal evolved a vocabulary to express his anguish and rage towards decadence in society. The expressionistic use of splattered colours and the bold application of black are part of that vocabulary.
Beginning his career as an art teacher, with a stint as an art director in films, he was a founder member of Calcutta Painters in 1964, and from 1979-83 a general council member of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. He passed away in Kolkata on 2 July 2019.

Shipment DetailsThis artwork will be shipped unframed, either in roll form or flat, depending on its requirements—at no additional cost.

If you’d prefer the artwork to arrive ready to hang, please get in touch with us to arrange framing and shipping at applicable charges.

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