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Mukul Dey

The subject of this drypoint etching is the sacred Bodhi tree under which the Buddha achieved spiritual awakening. Growing upwards from an urn, the tree’s tangled branches dominate the composition and offer refuge to a host of small creatures. Winged deities frame its crown, while people lay offerings at its base. Mukul Dey was a pioneer of drypoint etching in India, a technique that he learned while travelling to Chicago and London. Working at a time when India was under British rule, Dey was deeply concerned with developing a national artistic language. In addition to his printmaking practice, he also worked to recover and preserve India’s rich cultural heritage. Between 1918 and 1919, he undertook an arduous journey to copy the Buddhist frescoes at the Ajanta and Bagh caves. These encounters informed his work, which conveys a sense of national pride in its combination of traditional imagery and modern technique.

— Xuanlin Ye