Manishi Dey (22 September 1909 – 31 January 1966) was an Indian painter of the Bengal School of Art. Manishi Dey was the younger brother of Mukul Dey, a pioneering Indian artist and dry point etcher. Their two sisters, Annapura and Rani, were accomplished in arts and crafts as well.
Early life and education
He was born in Dhaka, Bengal Presidency. Originally named Bijoy Chandra, Manishi was the fifth child, and third son, of Purnashashi Devi and Kula Chandra Dey. In 1917, at the age of eight years, Manishi Dey's father died and he was sent to the Santiniketan school Patha Bhavana, which was founded by the Nobel Prize-winning poet Rabindranath Tagore. He seemed to dislike the preparatory conventions of Santiniketan and became mutinous. His education changed favourably when he came in contact with Abanindranath Tagore’s Bengal School of Art, the nephew of Rabindranath Tagore. He became one of the most versatile students of Abanindranath, whose other close students also included Nandalal Bose, Asit Kumar Haldar, Sarada Ukil, Mukul Dey, K. Venkatappa and Jamini Roy. These were the leading artists that spread the form and spirit of the neo-Bengal school throughout India.
The political and religious developments in the Indian subcontinent were a major influence during the life of Manishi Dey. Just shortly before his birth, Bengal was partitioned into an Eastern and Western part, known as the Partition of Bengal (1905). The area was divided a second time in 1947, known as the Partition of Bengal (1947). It was only after the death of Manishi Dey that Bengal became an independent country in 1971 after the Bangladesh Liberation War. These political changes during the colonization and decolonization of India were a major influence on the education of Dey. Abanindranath Tagore promoted traditional Indian culture in his teachings, which built the foundation for the artistic works of Manishi Dey throughout his life.
1928–1947: Monochrome Period
One of the major sources of Manishi Dey's inspirations were his travels as he traversed tirelessly throughout the Indian subcontinent in search of varied and newer visual idioms. His voyages helped him becoming a finished artist in 'Indian Painting' and the water colour 'Wash' technique, an art style he used masterfully in his works.
In 1928, Manishi Dey's brother Mukul decided to settle in Santiniketan and to become the first Indian principal of Government School of Arts in Calcutta, a position he held until 1943. Almost in stark contrast to his steady brother Mukul, the year 1928 marked the start of series of exhibitions all over India. At just 19 years of age, Manishi Dey held his first solo show 1928 in Calcutta where his brother was establishing himself. Many exhibitions followed, including in Nagpur (1928), Madras (1929), Bangalore (1930), Ceylon (1930), Bombay (1932), Shrinagar (1932), Arah (1934), Benares (1934), Nainital (1936), Bombay (1937), Pune (1939), Kolhapur (1940), Baroda (1942), Gwalior (1944), Delhi (1947). In 1946, his works were exhibited by the All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS) in New Delhi, jointly with other leading Indian artists such as Amrita Sher-Gil and Sailoz Mookherjea.
Manishi Dey interacted closely with artists like M. F. Husain, F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza, Sailoz Mookherjea and Shantanu Ukil in New Delhi during the late-1940s and early-1950s. He later became a member of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group (PAG), which was founded in 1947. PAG was one of the most influential forces on modern Indian painting, even though it was disbanded within a decade in 1956. The association with the group helped Dey to embrace cubist art and a variety of other media. Dey became thus one of the major contributors and transformers of Modern Indian painting.
His broad interests can also be seen in a collaboration with Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa, the Sri Lankan theosophist and philosopher. In 1930, Manishi Dey illustrated the title of a booklet with lecture notes by Jinarajadasa.