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.
This exhibition is made possible with generous support from CU Denver’s College of Arts & Media, Otterbein University, Dr. Bibhakar Shakya, Mr. & Mrs. Mangala and Yogeswar Amatya, Mr. Karl Johnson, and the Colorado Nepalese Community
Lain Singh Bangdel
Sir Lain Singh Bangdel (1919–2002) stands as a seminal figure in the history of South Asian modernism. Educated in Kolkata and Paris, Bangdel synthesized local traditions and international aesthetics, forging a modernist vocabulary rooted in the landscapes, cultures and histories of Nepal. His contributions as a painter, novelist, and art historian have had a profound and lasting impact on Nepal’s artistic and intellectual development.
About the curator
Yang Wang is an Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research focuses on the role of Asian art in shaping postwar global modernism, and has been supported by Getty, ACLS, Fulbright, American Oriental Society, and P.E.O. International. Her forthcoming book, Yellow Earth: Regional Chinese Ink Painting and Global Postwar Modernism, examines the confluence of regionalism, neo-traditionalism, Third Worldism, and landscape painting in the early People’s Republic of China. Her research has appeared in journals such as ARTMargins, Predella, China Perspectives, Yishu–Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art, Modern Art Asia, and in publications by the National Museum of Korea and the Denver Art Museum. Her curatorial projects on Chinese ink arts, Asian American art, modern Asian art, and contemporary Korean art represent her broader research interests in collective practice, politicized art, cultural diplomacy, and Cold War transnationalism.
