From left: Abstract II, 1969, Oil on canvas; Winter Storm, 1974, Oil on canvas; Mother Nepal, 1953, Oil on canvas; Self-Portrait, 1989, Oil on canvas; Mt. Everest, 1970, Oil on canvas

Homeland: Nepali modernism and the art of lain singh bangdel

September 25-December 13, 2025

opening reception: september 25, 2025, 4-7 pm

Homeland features the paintings of Lain Singh Bangdel (1919–2002), widely regarded as the father of modern art in Nepal. Born and raised on a tea plantation in Darjeeling, India, and educated in Kolkata and Paris, Bangdel synthesized a diverse range of global aesthetic influences to develop a personal idiom rooted in Nepali culture and reflective of international currents.

From modest beginnings, Bangdel went on to establish his artistic career in Europe, eventually earning an invitation from the King of Nepal to return to his ancestral homeland to modernize Nepali art and serve in the national government. For the next forty years, Bangdel led cultural institutions and created a body of artistic work in both realistic and abstract styles that engaged with the Himalayan landscape, Nepali literature, and contemporary society. A recognized polymath, Bangdel was also a novelist and art historian whose published research has played a key role in the repatriation of stolen sculptures back to Nepal. The exhibition is broadly organized around Bangdel’s historical trajectory and features more than forty paintings, some of which have never previously been exhibited in the United States, as well as large-scale works that he created as a visiting Fulbright scholar. 

An exhibition catalog co-published by the University of Colorado Denver and Otterbein University will be available.