Most artists? career-profiles may be seen as a succession of preparatory phases of derivative styles and techniques leading to a more permanent one which involves the discovery of a relevant archetypal form. It happened in the case of Jamini Roy in the manner it happened in that of Rabin Mondal, known for his seemingly repetitive configurations. Both artists, however, should be viewed and understood in the context of their indefatigable effort to expatiate on their contemplated archetypes.

Mondal is deeply embedded in a world of imagery that is both primitive and modern. But the primitive-looking men and women he projects in his pictorial space ? whether they are kings, queens or deities, or people at the lowest rung in the social order ? are endowed with sad eyes, seeming to implore for kindness and justice.

These characters seem content to bear the cross of their powerlessness, tyranny and lovelessness; but the serenity of their temperament should itself be construed as the protest of the meek who, ultimately, may come to inherit the earth. Mondal?s solo at the Academy of Fine Arts was accompanied by the release of a book authored by Santi Nath, which is highly readable, not only because of its comprehensiveness, but also for the writer?s understanding of the artist?s vocabulary.