GuillermoFenster at 03:06, 12 March 2026

2026-03-12T03:06:17Z

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{{Short description|Indian artist and art educator (1907–1998)}}
{{Infobox artist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Gouri Bhanja
| honorific_suffix =
| image = 
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| birth_name = Gouri Bose
| birth_date = 1907
| birth_place = [[Munger]], [[Bihar]], [[India]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1998|1907}}
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| education = [[Kala Bhavana]]
| alma_mater =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| style = [[Batik]]
| movement =
| relatives = [[Nandalal Bose]] (father)
[[Jamuna Sen]] (sister)
[[Surendranath Kar]] (uncle)
| awards = 
| elected =
| patrons =
| memorials =
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}}

'''Gouri Bhanja''' (1907–1998) was an [[India|Indian]] artist best known for contributing to the original [[Illuminated manuscript|illuminated]] [[Constitution of India]] and for dedicating several decades of her life to teaching at [[Kala Bhavana]]. She was the eldest daughter of [[Nandalal Bose]], master of [[Indian art]].

==Personal life==
Gouri Bhanja was born in 1907 in [[Munger]], [[Bihar]] in [[India]] to parents Sudhira Devi and [[Nandalal Bose]]. Her father, a highly respected artist himself, raised all of his children with deep involvement in the arts. Her younger brother [[Biswarup Bose]] and sister [[Jamuna Sen]] would also go on to make names for themselves in the [[Indian art]] world.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mandal |first=Panchanan |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.303663 |title=Bharatshilpi Nandalal |publisher=Digital Library Of India |year=1968 |volume=1 |location=Kolkatta, West Bengal, India |language=Bengali |access-date=2023-11-12}}</ref>

Following the completion of her education in 1926, Gouri married Santosh Bhanja, the son of one of her father's friends.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |title=The presence of women in the institutionalized space and their interventions: Kala bhavana (1920-1930) |url=https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/133152/8/09_chapteriv.the%20presence%20of%20women%20in%20the%20institutionalised%20space%20and%20their%20interventions%20-%20kala%20bhavana(1920-1930).pdf |journal=[[Shodhganga]] |pages=196–202}}</ref> The pair had a daughter in 1928, [[Bani Patel]], who eventually followed family tradition and became an artist.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Varade |first=Arunesh |date=2021-11-26 |title=5 Women Artists who illustrated the Constitution of India |url=https://www.theheritagelab.in/women-artists-constitution-india/ |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=The Heritage Lab |language=en-GB}}</ref> They had at least one more child, a son named Pradyot.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Snodgrass |first=Mary Ellen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SmiYEAAAQBAJ |title=Asian Women Artists: A Biographical Dictionary, 2700 BCE to Today |date=2022-11-01 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company|McFarland]] |isbn=978-1-4766-8925-8 |pages=77–78 |language=en-US |access-date=2023-11-12}}</ref>

==Education==
[[File:Constitution of India (calligraphic) 233.jpg|thumb|Illustration of [[Nataraja]] by Gouri Bhanja, [[Constitution of India]] p. 233]]
Gouri Bhanja became a highly educated woman following the encouragement of her father, [[Nandalal Bose]], who continues to be regarded as a master in Indian painting and [[printmaking]]. In 1976, his name was included on a list of the nine most important, master Indian artists published by the [[Government of India]].<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2006-08-30 |title=The Nine Masters |url=http://chdmuseum.nic.in/art_gallery/nine_masters.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907065925/http://chdmuseum.nic.in/art_gallery/nine_masters.html |archive-date=2015-09-07 |website=Government Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh, India}}</ref> In 1922, Nandalal became the first principal of the [[Kala Bhavana]] [[Fine art|fine arts]] school at [[Visva-Bharati University]] in [[Shantiniketan|Santiniketan]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-27 |title=Nandalal Bose |url=https://asiasociety.org/triennial/artist/nandalal-bose |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=Asia Society Triennial |language=en}}</ref> Under his direction the school began admitting female students soon after, and Gouri and her sister [[Jamuna Sen]] were included among the first cohorts admitted following extensive personal recommendations by [[Rabindranath Tagore]].<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last1=Bhattacharya |first1=Ayana |last2=Sen |first2=Soma |date=2023-09-01 |title=Discovering the lives of Bengal's women artists with Soma Sen |url=https://dagworld.com/discovering-the-lives-of-bengal-s-women-artists-with-soma-sen.html |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=DAG Galleries |language=en}}</ref>

Gouri received her [[diploma]] in painting at only 19, after studying under professors like her father and maternal uncle [[Surendranath Kar]].<ref name=":0" />

==Career==
Gouri Bhanja is known for reviving [[batik]] arts in [[Shantiniketan]] and [[North India|northern India]] in the 20th century.<ref name=":2" /> She is also credited with establishing [[alpana]] art in the region, participating in the creation of alpana in [[Jabalpur]] and for [[Indian National Congress|Congress']] [[Haripura|Haipura]] meeting in 1938. At the invitation of her father Nandalal Bose, Gouri, her brother, and her daughter Bani Patel were both invited to contribute artwork to the original [[Constitution of India]] alongside artisans like [[Beohar Rammanohar Sinha]] and [[Dinanath Bhargava]].<ref name=":1" />

In addition to her work as an artist and educator, Gouri was an accomplished dancer. In 1926, [[Rabindranath Tagore]] invited her to be the lead actress in the first production of his original stage dance-drama ''[[Natir Puja]] (The Dancing Girl's Worship).'' Following the performance, Rabindranath told Gouri's father that "this girl has touched fire, keep her carefully".<ref name=":0" /> Bhanja also worked on other aspects of performance, designing and crafting costumes for early stage productions of ''[[Chitrangada (play)|Chitrangada]]'' and ''[[Tasher Desh]].<ref name=":1" />'' An elaborate, [[batik]] [[sari]] designed by Nandalal Bose and crafted by Gouri Bhanja for use in a 1940 Tagore production is concerned a prized item among the vast collections of [[Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya|CSMVS]] Museum in [[Mumbai]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mukherjee |first=Sabyasachi |date=2018-03-24 |title=CSMVS Mumbai Guide: Director's Top 10 Picks |url=https://www.theheritagelab.in/csmvs-guide-museum-directors-picks/ |access-date=2023-11-12 |website=The Heritage Lab |language=en-GB}}</ref>

===Academic activities===
From 1928 until her retirement in 1972, Gouri Bhanja taught at [[Kala Bhavana]] in some capacity. She began her career in academics by teaching [[Fine art|fine arts]] and [[Crafts of India|crafts]] as an "honorary instructor" for several years, before earning her official instructor title from the institution in 1933. Bhanja taught as an [[assistant lecturer]] from 1957 until 1967, and spent the last 5 years of her career working as a [[lecturer]] until 1972.<ref name=":0" /> Gouri began working as head instructor in the craftwork department in 1938 following the sudden death of her mentor and fellow instructor Shukumari Devi. She continued Devi's work teaching [[alpana]] techniques to students, working with the school's administration and her students to decorate the school.<ref name=":2" />

Over four and a half decades, she taught courses in [[Javanese culture|Javanese]] [[batik]], [[Embroidery of India|Indian embroidery]], [[Leather crafting|leatherwork]], [[Macramé|macrame]], [[bandhani]], and [[Manipuri Raas Leela|manipuri textiles]].<ref name=":3" /> In 1952, she led her students in the design and construction of [[Shantiniketan]]'s [[Delhi Republic Day parade|Republic Day Parade]] float.''<ref name=":1" />''

===Awards===
* West Bengal Academy Prize, 1978.
* [[Honorary degree|Honorary Doctorate]] of Letters, [[Rabindra Bharati University]], 1991.
* Deshikottam (highest accolade awarded by institution), [[Visva-Bharati University]], 1998.<ref name=":0" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:1907 births]]
[[Category:1998 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Munger district]]
[[Category:Indian art educators]]
[[Category:Indian women art educators]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian educators]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian illustrators]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women artists]]
[[Category:Women artists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian women educators]]
[[Category:Indian women illustrators]]

Gouri Bhanja - Revision history

GuillermoFenster at 03:06, 12 March 2026