MAHADEV VISWANATH DHURANDHAR (1867-1944)

In his minutely detailed watercolors and impressive oil paintings, Mahadev Viswanath Dhurandhar maintained a “fine balance between popular commercial art and the academic realism that Ravi Varma was known for. In his own right, as a dutiful teacher in the British-run J.J. School of Art and also as a successful painter, Dhurandhar was to impress the coming three generations of artists. Although his use of the brush was almost ascetic, he had a princely eye for detail. No wonder this Kolhapur-born artist, who retained his indigenous and vernacular values in the same breath as the high English etiquette, refined this very dichotomy when he painted.” (A. Tamhane, Manifestations II, Indian Art in the 20th Century, New Delhi, 2004, p. 91)

The present watercolor of a traditionally dressed courting couple exemplifies the artist’s eye for detail, from the intricate drapery and jewels of the figures to the carpet, upholstery and painted wall of the well-appointed room they sit in. Wearing a traditional Maharashtrian nauvari sari, the woman here is likely a singer, her tanpura placed on the floor beside her. The man seated by her, dressed in a Northern Indian outfit, complete with turban and leather ‘mojri’ slippers, is perhaps one of her royal patrons who has been charmed by her performance.

In addition to being exhibited in India, Dhurandhar’s works have been shown in several international exhibitions and are part of the Royal Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Bombay Art Society among other institutions. The artist also served as a court painter for several princely states in the Western Deccan. During his lifetime, the artist was honored with numerous awards, including medals from the Bombay Art Society in 1892 and 1895, a prize at the Wembley Exhibition in 1923, and the honorary title of Rao Bahadur in 1927. In 2018, a major retrospective of his work, The Romantic Realist, was held at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai.