View of Mandu

Bendre's fascination with landscapes sparked off his artistic career in the 1930's and they remained an important element of his oeuvre. After his move back to Bombay in the mid-sixties, he would continue to travel around the country 'for the satisfaction of his still persistent wanderlust.' (Ram Chatterji, Bendre: The Painter and the Person, Canada, 1990, p. 59.) These trips would allow him to visit new places, thus providing him the inspiration for the landscapes, which was the focus of his work at this time. This painting from 1982 shows the town of Mandu in Madhya Pradesh, and Bendre has captured the flavor of both the architecture and the people.

Bendre experimented with his own version of Pointillism in the 1970's and 1980's and this work perfectly illustrates his vision. Pointillism is a Post-Impressionist method of applying color in precise capsule-like 'points' designed to create a specific mood. This painting is a fusion of the Pointillists' unique use of color and the delicate skyline of an Indian village. Like the Pointillists' philosophy, emphasis is not on a naturalistic representation of the landscape, but on depicting a unique visual experience as seen through the eyes of the artist.