Fanindra Nath Bose, a world-renowned sculptor, was the first Indian artist to be elected to the Royal Scottish Academy. Taking inspiration from the rich artistic worlds of France and Italy, his sketchbooks are filled with studies from Musée de la Sculpture Comparée in the Trocadero, and the Louvre.
This sketchbook is comprised of studies of classical statues Bose observed at these museums during a scholarship to Paris in 1911. The pencil sketches expertly capture the marble forms in recognisable detail, such as the Roman general Germanicus with his sweeping gestures and powerful stance (page 9).
Bose’s time in France was particularly informative, his drawings of statues from the Palace of Versailles (for example, page 22) demonstrating his unique ability to capture the intricate details of stone carvings.
Towards the back of the book, Bose kept notes describing these elaborate features; the way the fabric falls and how the angles of the statues’ bodies suggest movement. These annotations are a unique insight into Bose’s artistic process.
