Art, Symbol & Imagination
The Asceticism of Uma: Nanda Lal Bose
A woman's face and shoulders emerge among low rocks beside a small cascade and a solitary tree. Distant warm-coloured hills rise behind the cool, softly painted foreground. Bose's caption identifies Uma's asceticism. The unusual scale places the human presence within the landscape instead of making the land a backdrop behind a full standing figure. Tree roots, stone and flowing water give different textures to that enclosure. The painting's restrained colours and quiet direction of gaze make sustained concentration appear as a relation to an inhabited natural setting, through its still posture and quiet landscape.
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Citation
Nanda Lal Bose. "The Asceticism of Uma: Nanda Lal Bose" [editorial title]. In Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists, Sister Nivedita and Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. Original scan, 1914, George G. Harrap & Co.. Source scan leaf 359. Lumitheca. /gallery/image/hindu-colour-359
Source details
Editorial title and description. Source details from the Library catalogue.
Original source design and caption inspected; composition retained with scan margins trimmed. No reconstructed or recoloured details. Artist credit follows the printed illustration list at active reader leaves 19–20.
Sources
From the book
Myths of the Hindus and BuddhistsSister Nivedita and Ananda K. Coomaraswamy1914More from this book
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The Death of Maricha: K. Venkatappa’s IllustrationRelated illustrations
Cite this illustration
Nanda Lal Bose. The Asceticism of Uma: Nanda Lal Bose. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists. Scan leaf 359. Lumitheca. https://lumitheca.com/gallery/image/hindu-colour-359