c. 1927

The Sacred Bodhi Tree (The Oldest Tree in the World)

Indian, 1895 - 1989

Dey, along with many other pioneering Indian artists, studied at Rabindranath Tagore’s Kala Bhavana (Institute of Fine Arts) in Santiniketan. In 1916 he traveled to Japan and the United States to study drypoint etching, a medium that had not yet taken root in India. In his journeys abroad, Dey exemplified the artistic internationalism that was central to Tagore’s pedagogy. Yet Dey also chose to depict subjects inspired by local, regional, and ancient traditions, another important facet of the curriculum at Kala Bhavana. This work, for example, draws from the life of the historical Buddha, who achieved spiritual awakening under a banyan tree—later known as the bodhi (enlightenment) tree—at Bodh Gaya in eastern India.