Roy, Soumendu (Cinematographer), Inner Eye, The, 1972 | Photographic Still

Scene Description While studying at Kala Bhavan in Santiniketan, Benode Behari was highly influenced by Nandalal Bose, the head of the department as well as one of the most notable pupils of Abanindranath Tagore. Bose's influences were highly visible in Mukherjee's early work but his later paintings of the 30s showcase his individual style developing in full form. Mukherjee was more fascinated with his immediate surroundings and the rich flora and fauna of Santiniketan, which reflected in most of his early drawings of landscapes, bridges, birds and more._x000d_ After his return from his trip to Japan in 1937, Mukherjee was assigned the task to paint fresco on the ceiling of a new dormitory in Kala Bhavan. A painstaking process involving the use of earth colours, and a highly controlled technique had been taken up by Nandalal Bose and his students at the Kala Bhavan. Mukherjee familiar with an Egyptian fresco which showed a pond surrounded by trees, he too added a pond in the middle of his composition but around it he packed his 20 years of understanding of the rural life around Santiniketan.(4/16)