The Ascetic

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In recent years the term 'Company painting' has come to be used by art historians for a special type of Indian painting which was produced for Europeans and was heavily influenced by their taste. The rhythmic vitality and exuberance of the regenerating Indian traditions were, of course, basic to the development of the new style. Availability of European prints provided artists with new modes of expression and new ways of looking at problems of naturalistic representation. Indian painters adapted to European pictorial requirements and attempted to use perspective and shading.

This very perceptive portrayal of an eccentric and emaciated ascetic has a compelling trance like quality. This slight and bearded figure wears a thin garment covering part of his body. There is not only an accuracy of surface but an exploration of the individuality of the figure, revealing his personality. The gentle look in his eyes as well as the aging lines on his face evoke empathy in the viewer. The artist has concentrated the modeling along the subject's contours, leaving the rest in neutral tones. This kind of modeling has the effect of suggesting a sense of volume while not making the figure conflict with the shallow compositional space. Here, the artist has modified the color range; brilliant hues of Indian miniatures have been discarded for the more muted colors. There is an independent expressiveness of color and line. It is here that we see the full development of line and modeling as the artistic intentions of the artist.

This description by Renu Rana.