Skip to main content
TRIS logo image
Hemendranath Mazumdar โ€” featured artwork

Introduction

Date of Birth
19 Sep 1894
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Date of Death
22 Jul 1948
Age
53
Place of Birth
Kishoregunj, Undivided India | Present-day Bangladesh
Place of Death
Calcutta
State Country of Birth
Undivided India | Present-day Bangladesh

Exhibitions

  1. 1920

    1. Chennai Art Exhibition, Chennai, India
  2. 1921

    1. All India Show, Kolkata, India
    2. Chennai, India
    3. Bombay Art Society, Mumbai, India
    4. Chennai Art Exhibition, Chennai, India
  3. 1922

    1. Barna Jhankar, Chennai, India
    2. Bombay Art Society, Mumbai, India
  4. 1923

    1. Kardame Kamal, Mumbai, India
    2. Bombay Art Society, Mumbai, India
  5. 1936

    1. Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata, India
  6. 1939

    1. New Delhi, India
  7. 1940

    1. Chowringee Terrace, Inaugurated by Queen of Coochbehar, Kolkata, India
  8. 1948

    1. Kolkata, India
  9. 1951

    1. Eden Gardens, Kolkata, India
  10. 1952

    1. Portraits of Great Beauties of the World, Long Beach, California, U.S.A.
  11. 1997

  12. 2000

    1. Face Off 1900 - 1980s: An Exhibition of Indian Old Masters and Moderns, Curated by Santo Datta, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi, India

      15 Apr 2000 to 31 May 2000

  13. 2001

    1. 07 Aug 2001 to 14 Aug 2001

    2. 14 Jul 2001 to 31 Dec 2001

    3. Art of Bengal: Past & Present 1850 - 2000, NGMA, Mumbai in association with CIMA, Kolkata, at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Mumbai, India

      09 Jan 2001 to 25 Jan 2001

  14. 2003

    1. 19 Apr 2003 to 19 May 2003

  15. 2004

    1. Manifestations II: Indian Art in the 20th Century - 100 artists from the DAG collection, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

      25 Jul 2004 to 31 Jul 2004

    2. Manifestations II: Indian Art in the 20th Century - 100 artists from the DAG collection, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi, India

      09 Aug 2004 to 21 Aug 2004

  16. 2005

    1. Manifestations III: 100 artists - from the Delhi Art Gallery Collection, at Rabindra Bhavan, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India

      22 Apr 2005 to 27 Apr 2005

    2. Manifestations III: 100 artists - from the Delhi Art Gallery Collection, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi, India

      30 Apr 2004 to 14 May 2005

    3. Manifestations III: 100 artists - from the Delhi Art Gallery Collection, at Nehru Centre, Worli, Mumbai, India

      06 Apr 2005 to 12 Apr 2005

  17. 2010

    1. Art of the Land & Land in Art (Part 1), Galerie 88, Kolkata, India

      24 Jul 2010 to 14 Aug 2010

    2. 07 Feb 2010 to 10 Apr 2010

  18. 2012

    1. The Itinerant Bengal, Vinnyasa Premier Art Gallery, Chennai, India

      13 Mar 2012 to 20 Mar 2012

  19. 2013

    1. The Naked and the Nude: The Body in Indian Modern Art, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi, India

      15 Jan 2013 to 15 Mar 2013

    2. The Museum Collection - IV, Art Bull, New Delhi, India

      10 May 2013 to 08 Jun 2013

    3. Manifestations X: 75 artists, 20th Century Indian Art, Delhi Art Gallery, New Delhi, India

      30 Dec 2013 to 08 Mar 2014

  20. 2014

    1. The Art of Bengal, Delhi Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

      09 Oct 2014 to 08 Nov 2014

  21. 2015

    1. The Naked and the Nude: The Body in Indian Modern Art, Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), New York, USA

      07 Dec 2015 to 27 Feb 2016

  22. 2016

    1. The Naked and the Nude: The Body in Indian Modern Art, Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), Mumbai, India

      10 Oct 2016 to 10 Dec 2016

    2. Womanhood: Through The Eyes of Indian Modern and Contemporary Art, Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai, India

      27 Feb 2016 to 27 Mar 2016

  23. 2019

    1. Jamini Roy & Hemen Mazumdar: Two Rebels, Aicon Gallery, Greenwich Village, New York , USA

      14 Mar 2019 to 06 Apr 2019

  24. 2020

    1. Ghare Baire, The World, The Home and Beyond: 18th-20th Century Art in Bengal at the iconic Old Currency Building in Kolkata, India (Commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and curated and organised by DAG, in collaboration with NGMA)

      12 Jan 2020 to 31 Jan 2022

  25. 2021

    1. The Idolized Muses, Akara Art, Mumbai, India

      25 Jun 2021 to 31 Jul 2021

    2. Home is a Place, Interiority in Indian Art, Delhi Art Gallery (DAG), New Delhi, India

      12 Apr 2021 to 04 Aug 2021

  26. 2023

    1. Iconic: Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art Edition 03, DAG Modern, New Delhi, India

      26 Nov 2023 to 16 Dec 2023

  27. 2024

    1. 88 Years - 88 Masterpieces, Rabindra Bhavan, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, India

      25 Jan 2024 to 02 Feb 2024

    2. Painting Freedom: Indian modernism and its rebels, The Brunei Gallery, SOAS,   Bloomsbury, London, UK

      11 Apr 2024 to 22 Jun 2024

Calcutta Metropolitan Festival of Art (Organiser) and Ganesh Haloi (Curator). Art of Bengal, 1997 | Group Exhibition Catalogue | 00883543
1 / 6

Calcutta Metropolitan Festival of Art (Organiser) and Ganesh Haloi (Curator). Art of Bengal, 1997 | Group Exhibition Catalogue | 00883543

Chronicled Highlights

15 entries
Hemendranath Mazumdar
19 September 1894Born
Hemendranath Mazumdar
Hemendranath Mazumdar was born in 19 September 1894 in Kishoregunj, Undivided India | Present-day Bangladesh.
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Kamal Manas. Oil on canvas, c.1920 | Painting | FineArts | 00375750
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Kamal Manas. Oil on canvas, c.1920 | Painting | FineArts | 00375750
In 1997, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Kamal Manas (1920), offered in the The Intuitive-Logic II: Modern & Contemporary Indian Paintings, Drawings, Graphics, Sculpture & Tapestry by HEART, which concluded on 15 November 1997 at Mumbai, achieving a sale price of โ‚น9,50,000 ($25,857). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Woman Before Mirror. Oil on canvas, c.1920 | Painting | FineArts | 00600765
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Woman Before Mirror. Oil on canvas, c.1920 | Painting | FineArts | 00600765
In 2004, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Woman Before Mirror (1920), offered in the The Masterpieces & Museum Quality Series: Indian Contemporary Art โ€“ Books, Paintings & Sculpture by Osian's, which concluded on 15 October 2004 at New Delhi, achieving a sale price of โ‚น25,31,068 ($55,191). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). After the Bath. Oil on board, mid 1920s | Painting | FineArts | 00599047
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). After the Bath. Oil on board, mid 1920s | Painting | FineArts | 00599047
In 2005, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of After the Bath (1925), offered in the Masterpieces and Museum Quality Series: Indian Contemporary Art by Osian's, which concluded on 02 December 2005 at Mumbai, achieving a sale price of โ‚น32,20,000 ($69,817.87). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Untitled. Oil on canvas, circa 1928 | Painting | EconomicsArt | 00870044
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Untitled. Oil on canvas, circa 1928 | Painting | EconomicsArt | 00870044
In 2025, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Untitled (1928), offered in the 25th Anniversary Sale by Saffronart, which concluded on 02 April 2025 at Mumbai, achieving a sale price of โ‚น5,04,00,000 ($592,941). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Damsel. Oil on canvas, early 1930s | Painting | FineArts | 00419521
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Damsel. Oil on canvas, early 1930s | Painting | FineArts | 00419521
In socially conservative Bengal in the 1920s, it is hard to gauge peopleโ€™s true feelings about Mazumdar. As his images were disused in Bengali journals, his readership could not have taken a guilty pleasure in looking at them. Classical nudes, occurring on the pages of the same journals since the early twentieth century, did not hold the same shocked fascination because of their cultural distance. Then there were the Bengal Schoolโ€™s mannered, voluptuous semi-nudes. The disturbing power of Mazumdarโ€™s women lay in their palpability and immediacy; his subject a young Bengali woman enacting an everyday village scene of returning home after her daily bathโ€ฆ In short, the beholder experienced the frisson of spying on a โ€˜respectableโ€™ housewife, the proverbial girl next door. The artistโ€™s tantalizing silence about the identity of the model heightened the mystery surrounding her.
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Lady Playing the Sitar. Oil on canvas, c.1933-1935 | Painting | FineArts | 00332039
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Lady Playing the Sitar. Oil on canvas, c.1933-1935 | Painting | FineArts | 00332039
In 2015, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Lady Playing the Sitar (1935), offered in the Indian Antiquities, Modern and Contemporary Fine Arts by Osian's, which concluded on 19 June 2015 at Mumbai, achieving a sale price of โ‚น43,20,000 ($67,690.91). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Untitled. Oil on board, c.1930s | Painting | FineArts | 00642993
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Untitled. Oil on board, c.1930s | Painting | FineArts | 00642993
In 2016, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Untitled (1935), offered in the The India Sale: South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art by Christie's, which concluded on 18 December 2016 at Mumbai, achieving a sale price of โ‚น1,05,25,000 ($155,405.15). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Untitled (Woman in Moonlight). Oil on canvas, c.1930s | Painting | FineArts | 00337614
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Untitled (Woman in Moonlight). Oil on canvas, c.1930s | Painting | FineArts | 00337614
In 2019, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Untitled (Woman in Moonlight) (1935), offered in the South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art by Christie's, which concluded on 20 March 2019 at New York, achieving a sale price of โ‚น1,20,50,570 ($175,000). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Puri Jagannath Temple. Tempera on paper, c.1936 | Painting | FineArts | 00416358
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Puri Jagannath Temple. Tempera on paper, c.1936 | Painting | FineArts | 00416358
Mazumdarโ€™s educational environment was heavily framed by the curriculum of European art academies or โ€˜academic artโ€™ which were focussed on both a formalised rendering of the human body and an incisive study of socio-cultural realism. Art historian Geeta Kapur records that the emphasis in these curriculum on life-drawing, expressed through sketches and paintings, โ€œformed the academic criteria for and against which subsequent movements in Indian art developedโ€. The formalism of academic art has undergone, over the decades, fierce critique from artists, art critics and art historians for espousing a romantic and glossedover myth on everyday life divorced from the true grit of the human condition. However, in the second half of the twentieth century, academic art found a new lease through theoretical reconsideration of everyday life. Art was critically apprised outside of the normative formalist/ modernist paradigm and located within daily ritualised/realist values of perspective. Academic art was reframed as a potential site of production and circulation of meanings. Where art history and criticism was unkind, art theory and cultural studies embraced. This provides the entry point for the contemporary appreciation of Mazumdar who like many artists of his period were not mere passive purveyors but critical respondents to the received formalism.
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Woman With Pitcher. Oil on canvas, late 1930s | Painting | FineArts | 00417144
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Woman With Pitcher. Oil on canvas, late 1930s | Painting | FineArts | 00417144
In socially conservative Bengal in the 1920s, it is hard to gauge peopleโ€™s true feelings about Mazumdar. As his images were disuse in Bengali journals, his readership could not have taken a guilty pleasure in looking at them. Classical nudes, occurring on the pages of the same journals since the early twentieth century, did not hold the same shocked fascination because of their cultural distance. Then there were the Bengal Schoolโ€™s mannered, voluptuous semi nudes. The disturbing power of Mazumdarโ€™s women lay in their palpability and immediacy; his subject a young Bengali woman enacting an everyday village scene of returning home after her daily bathโ€ฆ In short, the beholder experienced the frisson of spying on a โ€˜respectableโ€™ housewife, the proverbial girl next door. The artistโ€™s tantalizing silence about the identity of the model heightened the mystery surrounding her.
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Untitled. Oil on canvas, c.1940 | Painting | FineArts | 00546205
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Untitled. Oil on canvas, c.1940 | Painting | FineArts | 00546205
In 2021, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Untitled (1940), offered in the Modern Indian Art by Asta Guru, which concluded on 31 March 2021 at Online, achieving a sale price of โ‚น2,40,26,196 ($326,866.12). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Untitled (Radha and Krishna). Oil on canvas, c.1940 | Painting | FineArts | 00420133
Mazumdar, Hemendranath (Artist). Untitled (Radha and Krishna). Oil on canvas, c.1940 | Painting | FineArts | 00420133
In 2022, the artist achieved a new high in the auction market with the sale of Untitled (Radha and Krishna) (1940), offered in the Historic Masterpieces by Asta Guru, which concluded on 28 December 2022 at Online, achieving a sale price of โ‚น3,69,76,907 ($445,943.86). This record marked a defining moment in the artist's market history, reflecting both the significance of the artwork and its reception within the broader art world.
Sotheby's (Auction House). Indian European and Oriental Paintings and Works of Art. 09 October 1992, New Delhi | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861838
1 / 2
Sotheby's (Auction House). Indian European and Oriental Paintings and Works of Art. 09 October 1992, New Delhi | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861838
On 09 October 1992, Hemendranath Mazumdar made their debut in the Indian public auction market when Woman in a Sari was presented as Lot 130 in Indian European and Oriental Paintings and Works of Art, conducted by Sotheby's in New Delhi, India. This auction marked the artist's first recorded appearance in the public auction market, establishing the earliest chapter of their auction history.
Osians (Auction House) and Neville Tuli (Curator). The Masterpieces & Museum Quality Series - Indian Contemporary Art โ€“ Books, Paintings & Sculpture. 15 October 2004, New Delhi | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861912
Osians (Auction House) and Neville Tuli (Curator). The Masterpieces & Museum Quality Series - Indian Contemporary Art โ€“ Books, Paintings & Sculpture. 15 October 2004, New Delhi | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861912
In 2004, an artwork by Hemendranath Mazumdar was featured on the cover of Osians: The Masterpieces & Museum Quality Series (October 2004, New Delhi), marking a documented highlight in the artist's public and auction market visibility.
Osians (Auction House) and Neville Tuli (Curator). Masterpieces & Museum Quality Series V - Indian Contemporary Art. 02 December 2005, Mumbai | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861927
Osians (Auction House) and Neville Tuli (Curator). Masterpieces & Museum Quality Series V - Indian Contemporary Art. 02 December 2005, Mumbai | Auction Catalogue | EconomicsArt | 00861927
In 2005, an artwork by Hemendranath Mazumdar was featured on the cover of Osians: Masterpieces & Museum Quality Series V (December 2005, Mumbai), marking a documented highlight in the artist's public and auction market visibility.

Economics of Art

Research Centre

Posts 1

  1. SWARAJ - Revisualising India's Political History
    "What does ๐—ฆ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ท truly mean? Is freedom achieved at a single historic moment or period, or must self-rule be continually imagined, questioned and renewed? India's journey towards Swaraj was shaped not by one voice or one path, but through reform and resistance, revolution and non-violence, political thought, public protest, art, print, photography, cinema and the collective will of its people. The Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) presents ๐—ฆ๐—ช๐—”๐—ฅ๐—”๐—: ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฎ'๐˜€ ๐—ฃ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—›๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜†, a pioneering exhibition curated by Neville Tuli. Bringing together rare artworks, prints, photographs, books, film publicity art, political propaganda and visual-textual-audio archives, SWARAJ traces India's complex journey towards political self-rule and self-discovery. From early European coastal encounters, the Bengal Renaissance and the First War of Independence in 1857 to the rise of Bharat Mata, the Tiranga, Gandhiji's inspired satyagraha, civil disobedience and mass mobilisation, the exhibition explores how the idea of India was envisioned, contested and transformed. It journeys through revolutionary movements and non-violence, subaltern uprisings, the Partition, the Constitution, the integration of the Princely States, the Emergency, wars, civic dissent and people's protests. It also foregrounds the vital role of artists, photographers, publishers, newspapers, journals, cartoons and cinema in recording and shaping the nation's political consciousness. SWARAJ invites us to encounter history not as something distant or settled, but as a daily living inheritance that continues to influence who we are and how we understand freedom, identity, and ourselves today. Watch the video for a glimpse into this expansive visual journey, and follow the exhibition as it revisualises India's political history through art, image, text and sound.

Calendar 2

  1. SWARAJ - Revisualising India's Political History
    ArchivedOpening PreviewProject 82
    SWARAJ - Revisualising India's Political History
    An Exhibition of Modern & Contemporary Fine & Popular Arts, Photography, Film Memorabilia and Visual-Textual-Audio Archive
    12th August 2026
    6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
    Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi,
    The Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) announces its seventh exhibition. โ€œSwaraj โ€“ Revisualising India's Political Historyโ€ -- An exhibition of Modern and Contemporary Fine and Popular Arts, Photography, Film Memorabilia and Visual-Textual-Audio Archives. Swaraj will open at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 August 2026 at the Visual Arts Gallery and will remain open till 7 p.m. Sunday, 16 August 2026. Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) presents SWARAJ | Revisualising India's Political History, a pioneering inter-disciplinary offline-online exhibition conceptualised and curated by Neville Tuli with Team T.R.I.S.. SWARAJ explores India's journey towards political self-rule and self-discovery through a remarkable collection of rare modern and contemporary fine and popular arts, albums, photographs, books, prints, propaganda, cartoons, film publicity artworks and other "text-visual-audio" archives contextualised within a clear historical framework, which defines T.R.I.S.' pedagogic approach to learning. The Exhibition will be of particular interest to students and scholars of India & Cultural Studies, and India's political and modern histories as well as those interested in the passage of events and ideas from the mid-1850s leading up to the turn of the 21st century. Unique to the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies is the richness of visual material that not only exhorts a deeper understanding of the art and archival materials on display but also brings alive the multi-layered narratives of the exhibition and naturally India's journey in being ad searching for herself.
    Read More โ†’
    +16 more
  2. SWARAJ - Revisualising India's Political History
    ArchivedExhibitionProject 81
    SWARAJ - Revisualising India's Political History
    An Exhibition of Modern & Contemporary Fine & Popular Arts, Photography, Film Memorabilia and Visual-Textual-Audio Archive
    12th - 19th August 2026
    10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
    Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi,
    19
    The Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) announces its seventh exhibition. โ€œSwaraj โ€“ Revisualising India's Political Historyโ€ -- An exhibition of Modern and Contemporary Fine and Popular Arts, Photography, Film Memorabilia and Visual-Textual-Audio Archives. Swaraj will open at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, 12 August 2026 at the Visual Arts Gallery and will remain open till 7 p.m. Sunday, 16 August 2026. Tuli Research Centre for India Studies (T.R.I.S.) presents SWARAJ | Revisualising India's Political History, a pioneering inter-disciplinary offline-online exhibition conceptualised and curated by Neville Tuli with Team T.R.I.S.. SWARAJ explores India's journey towards political self-rule and self-discovery through a remarkable collection of rare modern and contemporary fine and popular arts, albums, photographs, books, prints, propaganda, cartoons, film publicity artworks and other "text-visual-audio" archives contextualised within a clear historical framework, which defines T.R.I.S.' pedagogic approach to learning. The Exhibition will be of particular interest to students and scholars of India & Cultural Studies, and India's political and modern histories as well as those interested in the passage of events and ideas from the mid-1850s leading up to the turn of the 21st century. Unique to the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies is the richness of visual material that not only exhorts a deeper understanding of the art and archival materials on display but also brings alive the multi-layered narratives of the exhibition and naturally India's journey in being ad searching for herself.
    Read More โ†’
    +16 more