Kolkata’s Art Exposure gallery resumes focus on modernist Bhunath Mukherjee’s portraits

The moment you enter Art Exposure in Kolkata, you will be greeted by vast space with 10 portraits of well-known icons from Bengal hanging on the walls. Each wall, dedicated to one portrait by Bhunath Mukherjee, may make you think of the empty space, but it is this positioning with the space, the description and the portrait of the legendary icon, that actually makes way for the viewer to connect with Bhunath Mukherjee’s work in 2025. 

Here’s why you should pay a visit to the ongoing retrospective of Bhunath Mukherjee

Before going deeper into the actual display at the gallery, it is important to understand the man behind the art. Trained in the Government School of Art, Calcutta in 1935, he stuck to oil on canvas as his medium for life. Seventeen years later, he visited London for further training at the Royal Academy and one can see subtle changes in his works post the training. Even though Mukherjee painted both landscapes and portraits, the perimeter of this exhibition was limited to his portraits only. 

One cannot miss out his interpretation of the legendary Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore where he is shown in a contemplative mood with his eyes lowered and brows together. While it may seem he is staring into nothingness or space, it is this emptiness that became the inspiration for Tagore to build the legacy that he did. Upon closer look, one can see the finer details painted by Mukherjee where each strand of his beard and hair are visibly countable, making one understand how important finer lines were for the artist.

The next was a 1944 portrait of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, modeled on a very famous portrait of his which is often seen dominating text -books. What was remarkable in this half-bust painting was the attention to detail again. Black coat, striped turban and an unforgettable gaze. Take a moment to step forward and look closely at the turban, you would find a pop-of colour - green and red hues on golden- which brings such an everyday wearable object alive. 

While there are other portraits of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Michael Madhusudhan Dutta, Girish Ghosh and the likes, our next stop was in front of Nabinchandra Sen. What makes this portrait on similar lines and yet surprisingly different is that the eyes automatically rest of the facial feature instead of any other minor detailing on the canvas, like in previous ones. This is the result of this painting stemming after his two-years training in London, post which his artistic caliber has a shift towards drawing attention to the face with its sharp features rather than finer details.

All across the gallery are 10 portraits of the artist, most of which were painted in his studio in Rashbehari Avenue, not far from the Gallery itself. The display is a re-discovery of modern portraits and a shift in style by Mukherjee which definitely acquaints newer audience to his genius. 

What: Bhutnath Mukherjee, a modernist lineage of Bengali Portraiture 

Where: Art Exposure, 16/2 Lake Terrace

When: till October 31, 2025

Timings: 11 am - 8 pm (Except Sundays and public holidays)

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