Remembering Lain Singh Bangdel

Razen Manandhar

 

God is mean. He seldom gives both a brush and a pen to one person. And he further gave the zeal, mission and craft to make a platform to present both brush and pen. The only person in our context with all these charecteristics is none other than Lain Singh Bangdel, a character of his own, who passed away last week on the very auspicious day of Vijaya Dashami.

 

Ramchandra might have conquered the invincible Rawana on this day, but time proved itself more powerful than Ramachandra himself and snatched away the Gift for Nepal and made such a void here that will be more than hard to fill up.

 

He was born in Darjeeling, India in 1924 in a middle class family. His parents never had dreamed of making him an internationally renowned artist scholar. After spending his school days at Government High School of Darjeeling and a  District Borad Scholarship took him to Government Collage of Arts and Crafts and from where he was graduated in 1945.

 

But instead of returning home to fulfil his father's dream, he stayed in Kolkota and tried his luck now and then. He worked for several advertising agencies, got sacked for being "incompetent". More than art teachers, he was trained by failures that also made him ambitious and provoked him to set his goal.

 

His firm ambition to become an artist made him one-month-long voyage to London and move to France, his ultimate destination in 1952. Since he was there without any concrete programme, mountains of difficulties were obvious. He lived in outskirts, in poorly heated rooms and he had to walk around the city to sell his early paintings. For almost two decades, he remained truly "an artist" in Paris and London, where he learned much more than the techniques of making strokes on empty canvass.

 

The dice was cast in 1961 when artist Bangdel got an opportunity to be introduced to His Late Majesty King Mahendra. Panchyati System was quite new and His Majesty was in search of personalities, who could show Modern Nepal to the world from different angles. The four-year old Royal Nepal Academy needed some artists to showcase Nepal's art. Though Nepal had been a treasure of art and architecture for millennia, and contemporary art has entered Nepal much earlier than Bangdel was born in an Indian town, he was granted membership of the Academy by the king himself. Thus, luck had it that his working place became Nepal, the country his ancestors had left generations ago.

 

The time was Panchayati, when the king's decision was considered all in all. Being a king-nominated member of the Academy was just different in those days. His well-maintained relation with his late majesty as well as his expertise made him vice-chancellor in 1974 and again the first non-royal chancellor in 1979 and worked as the head of the academy till 1989. He was fortunate to be remain in the highly powerful organisation of the scholars, backed by the state itself, for almost all of the Panchayati period. This was also the most productive days of his life—series of painting exhibitions and book publications he brought in this period, followed by dozens of decorations, were his achievement as well as Nepal's. Most of his books were published from the Academy where as some were published abroad.

 

Right after coming to Nepal, he exhibited his semi abstract paintings at Saraswati Sadan. It was the time when Jadadish Samsher and Genendra Bahadur Amatya had come up with abstract works so it will be exaggeration to call him pioneer of "modern art" but his ones were more sharpened with the addition of European outlook. Making a position in Nepal's art areana, where most of the aritists were submissive, shy and unexposed to Western world was not difficult for him.  He thus became an icon of modern art, with his characteristic of matching green with soothing blue and composing figures with cubic applications.

 

Establishment of Nepal Art Circle is Bandels another side of contribution. Founded to exhibit replicas of European art today stands as a government aided institutions, of which he was secretary till his last day. A group of artists, New Artists' Ciercle today are following his path.

 

Bangdel was born to be an artist but his contribution to literature of Nepali language was not less remarkable. He had published  'Bishwa Katha Sangraha' before he left for London. His life in London, France and Spain gave the literature of Nepali some remarkable volumes in different genres. Students of literature today remember him for his books, mainly Spain ko Samjhana, Muluk Bahira, Maitighar, Langadako Sathi, Bishwa ka Chha Mahan Kalakar and Rembrandt.

 

An unfogettable part of his contribution to Nepal is his deep study in Nepal's stone scupture, mosty of the early age. Bangdel might never had imagined that his small valley is rich with uncountable stone sculptures, some dating as early as the first century BC. His delegent study and interpretation opened a new age of studying Nepal's cultural heritage, or he at least open the window to Nepalis, who often boast of their legacy. His research produced Prachin Nepali Murtikalako Itihas (1982), Ancient Sculptures of Nepal (1982,India) Stolen Images of Nepal (1989) and Inventry of Stone Sulptures of the Kathmandu Valley (1995) are some of his books.

 

Despite all, he was constantly isolated form Nepali artists' circles, criticised of misusing his power and also as being undemocrtic to juniors. Still, his contributions to Nepal, Nepal's art, heritage and literature will be remembered and Nepalis will have to wait for long till some able person holds mission and power to replace his vacuity.

The Kathmandu Post