Nandalal Bose, popularly known as the Master Moshai, was born on December 3rd, 1882 in Kharagpur, Monghyr District, Bihar. A disciple of Abanindranath Tagore, he graduated from Government School of Art, Calcutta in 1910. Nandalal was fascinated by the potential of folk art and indigenous modes of expression and inculcated them in his works although stylising them in a unique representation for depiction and narration of local life. His explorative temperament with the artistic materials allowed him to create a vast body of work with printmaking techniques as lithography, linoleum prints and Sino- Japanese techniques while remaining faithful to his narrative subject: India's environment and its ethos. Nandalal Bose's art conjures newness unbound but still flushed with the memories of yesterday. Inspired by Far Eastern sensibilities that celebrate the traditional, the genius of his art's lies in the interplay of sensual silhouettes and his powerful rendering of contemporary themes with the traditions, customs and sensibilities of Indian heritage. It is this intermingling that invigorates his works and captures the minds of his viewers.

He began his artistic career in the fervour of Swadeshi movement, rejecting western colonial norms of art and taking inspirations from the ancient murals of Ajanta and Bagh caves as well as Mughal miniatures. In 1919, Nandalal Bose accepted Rabindranath Tagore's invitation to become the Principal of the newly established art school Kala Bhavan at Visvabharati University in Santiniketan. He travelled in and out of India including places like Burma, China, Japan, Malaysia, Java and Sri Lanka seeking artistic stimulus from observing different cultural traditions. He also painted a series of posters for the Indian National Congress at Haripura in February 1938. The range of Nandalal's artistic expressions is seen in his various landscapes with human figures, his varied images of nature and the Santiniketan Murals.

His works reflect the changing landscape, portraying people and places at a time when modern India's cultural development was at its threshold. Nandalal Bose died on April 16th, 1966 in Santiniketan, West Bengal. He won several accolades including the Padma Vibhushan by the President of India in 1953. He was awarded with an honorary Doctorate in Letters (D. Litt.) from Banaras Hindu University in 1950 and Calcutta University in 1957. The NGMA has over 6800 of his works in his collection.

In this postcard Nandalal depicts an aged male figure, a patua painter as per the inscription, looking warmly at his wife. The artist renders the subject in dark, wiry outlines and light washes of colour that define the man's wrinkled body and facial features. Nandalal has here captured a subtle moment and portrayed it with simplicity.

Nandalal's rendezvous with international artists visiting Santiniketan and his own visits to other countries provided opportunities to understand the nuances of each craft and a bold platform to enrich his vision. He was especially influenced by the Sino-Japanese brush techniques and explored these while remaining faithful in the portrayal of the Indian environment and its ethos.

This album of 22 drawings records Nandalal's sojourn to Puri and its environs, on the coast of Odisha, in 1950. In these monochrome drawings he renders, in subtle yet meticulous tones of black, the local people of the villages busy in their daily chores.

Though an area rich in pilgrimage sites, Nandalal preferred painting the local life of Puri for his adoration of nature, people and places.