Lain Singh Bangdel (1919–2002) was Nepal’s foremost artist, novelist, scholar and preservationist. Born in a village near a tea estate of Darjeeling, India, to an ethnically Rai family from the Khotang district of Eastern Nepal, he went on graduate from the Government College of Art and Craft in Calcutta with a degree in Fine Arts in 1945. During his time in Calcutta, he wrote novels in Nepali, including Muluk Bahira (Outside the Country), Aitaghar (Maternal Home) and Langada ko Saathi (The Cripple’s Friend), the last of which later became known as the first realistic work of literature written in the language.

In 1952, Bangdel travelled to Europe to study art in Paris at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he developed close relationships with other international artists, including Paritosh Sen and Akbar Padamsee of India, Affandi of Indonesia and other artists of the Asian diaspora. Since then, he began to make a name for himself as an artist and intellectual engaged with the Modernist movement. Yet, unlike many of his peers who felt the need to extract ideas of Modernism from their own cultures, Bangdel had no reservations about being at once modern and Nepali. This is evident in the artist’s continual work in both realistic landscape painting and abstraction. In 1961 – when King Mahendra invited Bangdel to help organise the modern aesthetic movement in Nepal – the artist finally set foot in his home country for the first time, settling down in Kathmandu for the rest of his life.

In a 1980 essay titled ‘My Devotion to Art’, Bangdel explained: ‘[W]e can perceive this entire external world that our naked eyes can see in a tangible as well as abstract manner. This is because humans possess both sight and heart’. He arrived at this perspective through his production of art in the 1960s and ’70s, painting both realistic depictions of the arresting Himalayas and the abstracted colours and forms stemming from this landscape. His decision to do so was also partly due to the fact that he thought of himself as a ‘Nepali that is new to Nepal’, since he didn’t live in the country until he was in his forties. Bangdel hoped to simultaneously be accepted by his peers and challenge Nepalis’ preconceived notions of art. His work ultimately initiated a ripple effect in the Nepalese art scene that can still be felt today.

Rossi & Rossi is pleased to present the artist’s first solo exhibition in Hong Kong from the 28th September to the 16th November, 2024. The exhibition will be showcasing realistic landscape paintings alongside abstract and figurative works by Bangdel from the 1950s to the 1980s. The artist’s unique position within Modernism is evident in these works. Heavily influenced by the majestic sights of nature, Bangdel often painted the various mountains of Nepal, as seen in Misty Mt. Everest (1978), in which the mountain’s jagged peak contrasts with the gently swirling clouds. For many Nepali viewers, village architecture served as entry points into Bangdel’s abstract works, including A Village near Kathmandu (1963) and Winter in the Valley (1984). In them, the painterly portrayal of a village is replaced by shifting brushstrokes of form and colour.

The selection of works on view exemplifies Bangdel’s understanding of Modernism and firmly positions him as the father of modern art in Nepal.