Lalit Mohan Sen, Two Women in a Landscape, (Circa 1938): The Friday Find

6 - 13 March 2026
  • Lalit Mohan Sen was born in 1898 in Shantipur, Nadia, India. He grew up in a family associated with the...
    Lalit Mohan Sen

    Lalit Mohan Sen was born in 1898 in Shantipur, Nadia, India. He grew up in a family associated with the traditional textile industries of Shantipur and enrolled in the Shantipur Municipal High School, but, due to the sudden outbreak of malaria, moved to Lucknow in 1909 and studied at the Government School of Arts and Crafts, under its first principal Nathaniel Herd. 

  • After graduating in 1917, he joined the school as a drawing teacher. In 1925, on a government fellowship, Sen went...

    William Rothenstein and Rabindranath Tagore, early 20th century

    Wikimedia Commons: Kenneth X. Robbins

    After graduating in 1917, he joined the school as a drawing teacher. In 1925, on a government fellowship, Sen went to London to study at the Royal College of Art under its Principal, Sir William Rothenstein – a figure who played an important role in introducing the work of Rabindranath Tagore to the West, facilitating the publication of Gitanjali in 1912 and creating several iconic images of Tagore, several of which are now in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, British Museum and Tate.

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  • Sen earned a diploma in painting and a certificate in wood engraving from the RCA and was also a keen and talented photographer and became a member of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. Whilst in Britain he also undertook training in various graphic art mediums under the guidance of the celebrated etcher Malcolm Osborne. Many of his woodcuts and linocuts, even those that appeared in the albums, were published in popular magazines like Aloka , Shilpi and The Hindoostan. The V&A in London have a large quantity of his linocuts produced in 1945.

  • (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Untitled, Village Woman, Circa 1940s (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    A Woman from Bhira Kheri, U.P. (1944) Courtesy: Emami Art (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Portrait of a Village Woman, Circa 1940s Courtesy: Emami Art (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view: Lalit Mohan Sen, An Enduring Legacy, 2023 Courtesy: Emami Art (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Village Woman, Circa 1940s/'50s Courtesy: Emami Art (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view: Lalit Mohan Sen, An Enduring Legacy, 2023 Courtesy: Emami Art (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation view: Lalit Mohan Sen, An Enduring Legacy, 2023 Courtesy: Emami Art (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Linocut, 1945 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Linocut, 1945 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Linocut, 1945 (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).

    Untitled, Village Woman, Circa 1940s

  • After returning to India in 1929, he rejoined the Government School of Arts and Crafts, Lucknow, and was selected as one of the artists to decorate the Viceroy's House in New Delhi. In 1931 he was one of four artists chosen to paint the India House Murals in the newly built Edwin Lutyen’s building in London. He became the School’s Principal in 1945 and lived and worked in Lucknow until his death in 1954.

  • This painting has a lovely inscription on the back of the work and a dedication to a French woman Louisette...

    This painting has a lovely inscription on the back of the work and a dedication to a French woman Louisette Savart, who visited Sen at the School in January 1939. From what we can tell she toured India as an amateur artist, living for many years in Paris until her death in 1996.

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  • Lalit Mohan Sen, Two Women in a Landscape, Circa 1938

    Lalit Mohan Sen

    Two Women in a Landscape, Circa 1938
    Fact Sheet:

    Lalit Mohan Sen 1898 - 1954

    Two Women in a Landscape, Circa 1938

    Signed and inscribed on the reverse, 'from L.M.SEN. ARCA (LOND.)/ to Madam Louisette Savart/ to remember her visit to the/ School [and] studio/ Lucknow/ Govt School of Arts + Crafts/ 30th jan. 1939

    Oil on panel

    51 x 51 cm
    20 1/8 x 20 1/8 in

     

    Provenance

    Madam Louisette Savart (1922-1996), Paris; acquired directly from the Artist in Lucknow in January 1939;
    By descent

     

     

    Thanks to Emami Art for the wonderful archive information published for their 2023 exhibition in Kolkata: Lalit Mohan Sen, An Enduring Legacy.