Remembrance of Things Art

Despite the lack of archival material, the book manages to piece together a portrait of artist and sculptor Leela Mukherjee

- Zeenat Nagree

A Guileless Modernist, edited by art historian R. Siva Kumar, introduces us to the life and practice of Leela Mukherjee (1916–2002), whose sculptures, prints and drawings are relatively unknown today. While Mukherjee did not leave behind a detailed inventory of her work, nor a chronological account of her life, the book attempts to gather available details in the form of photographs, exhibition catalogues and memories of friends and other artists. Interest in Mukherjee’s practice is heightened through association—her husband, Benodebehari Mukherjee (1904-1980), was a revered Santiniketan modernist, and her daughter, Mrinalini Mukherjee (1949-2015), was one of the most acclaimed contemporary sculptors of India.