This group exhibition follows the development of Indian modernist art and beyond through a focus on the sculptor Mrinalini Mukherjee (1949–2015) and her family. Born in Bombay to parents who were both artists, Leela and Benode Bahari Mukherjee – one of the first modernist woman sculptors in India and a pioneer of Indian Contextual Modernism, respectively – Mrinalini spent much of her childhood in Santiniketan, the school and art centre founded in Bengal by Rabindranath Tagore. Inspired by South Asian folk art as much by contemporary design, Mrinalini pioneered the use of dyed hemp as a sculpting material early in her career, though later on she turned increasingly to bronze and ceramics. Here, some 100 works by Mrinalini are joined by examples of her parents’ art, as well as paintings, drawings and other pieces by contemporaries and friends, including paintings by Jagdish Swaminathan and terracotta reliefs by K.G. Subramanyan (31 October–24 February 2026).
Find out more from the Royal Academy’s website.
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