#GaneshPyne

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It is hard to avoid Savitri’s heavy-lidded but direct gaze in this painting. Her determination not to accept her fate and to reclaim Satyavan from the dead led Pyne not only to hope about eternal relationships, but also to contemplate the wisdom, strength and selflessness of all the women who have made sacrifices for their families through the ages. Savitri, painted in 1999, offers Ganesh Pyne’s interpretation of the legendary story of Satyavan and Savitri, and is one of several works created by the artist over the five decades of his career that engage with characters and episodes from the epic Mahabharata. In the painting, we see Savitri dressed in a long, burnt red garment with gold jewelry, including a substantial necklace. Her dark hair is long and flows down her back. She holds a small, light-colored vase with a single plant above her head (adorned with a bindi) with one hand, suggesting a ritualistic or symbolic offering. Her expression is stoic and straight forward and a nose ring is visible. Beneath her, lying on a bamboo raft, is the skeleton of Prince Satyavan whose mortality contrasts with Savitri's composure. Legendary Indian painter Ganesh Pyne was one of the leading figures in the Bengal School of Art movement. His surrealist paintings reflect brooding worlds with a luminous and mystical quality, inspired by Bengali folktales and mythological stories he grew up with. Termed as “a poet of melancholia” by famous art critic Ranjit Hoskote, Pyne mastered the interplay between the fantastical and the dark, developing his own style of “poetic surrealism” during his practice.

Savitri (Behula) by গণেশ পাইন Ganesh Pyne (Indian) - Tempera on canvas / 1999 - Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (Delhi, India) #womeninart #art #tempera #artwork #GaneshPyne #painting #fineart #KiranNadarMuseumofArt #গণেশপাইন #savitri #सावित्री #satyavan #सत्यवान #behula #বেহুলা #womensart #indianart #temperapainting