Untitled

Somnath Hore

Somnath Hore was an exceptional pedagogue, who served as a teacher in the art department at the Delhi Polytechnic and later assumed the role as the Head of the Department of Graphics and Printmaking at Kala Bhavan, Shantiniketan.

This monochromatic lithograph brings the viewer to a frozen frame resembling an art studio, where the figure stands on the right, maybe an artist or an art student. She is seen contemplating a portrait, on which she rests her hand. The central table is strewn with other objets d’art, with a window behind it overlooking the sights outside. On the left, a figurative work is on display, perhaps of a rural scene with figures carrying a load of wooden sticks and branches on their heads (signaling Hore’s upbringing in the countryside and his years at Santiniketan that brought him across many scenes of rural folk.) In this work, he has depicted the artist’s vision of an art studio where different mediums of art come together, such as drawings, paintings, and ceramics.