Untitled (Four Figures)

Rejecting his stylistic predecessors from the Bengal school because of their tendencies towards the bourgeois, Jogen Chowdhury looked to the more folkloric aspects of Indian culture for inspiration. Characterized by his elongated, amoebic figures and preference for highly decorative surfaces, Chowdhury's art draws equally from the natural and the psychological. Explaining his unusual depiction of the human body, Chowdhury explains, "I had the idea that if I were portraying an Indian man I should be conscious of the fact that we Indians sit in a manner quite different from that of a European. Our bodily forms, movements and looks are very different, I sought to study this difference and bring it to my painting. This was a new point of interest for me as a revelation of the reality of the Indian form." (Jogen Chowdhury, Jogen Chowdhury: Enigmatic Visions, Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan, 2005, pp. 90-91.)