Woman with Pitcher

Hemen Mazumdar's images of women in various stages of undress would have verged on the pornographic in the 1930's when this painting was done. Mazumdar hinted at nudity by draping his female figures in semi transparent or wet saris. This technique that was later adopted by Indian cinema ensured that a sense of modesty was upheld in the image. Through their suggested identities as wives and mothers involved in the general household chores of fetching water, they become ideal feminine models and gained a respectability that allowed his works to occupy a 'legitimate' area of middle class taste.

Mazumdar worked in Calcutta at the same time as the Bengal School artists were flourishing. He therefore had to resist the Indianizing trends to become a successful Academic painter. His paintings followed in the tradition of Raja Ravi Varma, both in terms of subject matter as well as technique. He focused on both portraits and sensual studies of women. Like Ravi Varma, he painted in oil and paid particular attention to the British traditions of naturalism and realism.