Sunil Madhav Sen - UNTITLED(Striding Nude/ Men with a Drum)

Sunil Madhav Sen (1910 - 1979)

Mixed Media on Paper

17 x 11/8.5 x 12.5 Inches

Signed Lower Right/Lower Right

Year - 1960

 This painting shows a striding nude with a mask-like face, large feet, and bold lines. Its style recalls Picasso’s Cubist figures. The broken shapes and grid-like floor connect to Sen’s interest in mixing modern ideas with folk art.

Born in Bankura, in Bengal's Rarh region, Sen often drew from clay idols, kantha patterns, and village crafts he saw as a child. He combined these memories with European modernism. 

Below the striding figure,  another painting depicts abstract faces, and lines; a dense field of marks that merge figure and symbol. We see two men playing what seems like a drum; probably a scene Sen witnessed in his childhood in Bengal. The layered colours and scratchy crayon strokes reflect Sen’s instinctive mix of European modernist impulses (like Picasso’s Cubism and tribal mask motifs) with folk textures