Feb Auc 16 Catalogue

8/19/2019 Feb Auc 16 Catalogue

1/97

EV ENI NG SA L EMUMBAI | LIVE

24 FEBRUARY 2016


2/97

Saffronart | Evening Sale

saffronart.com

E VE NING S ALEMUMBAI | LIVE

24 FEBRUARY 2016


3/97


Cover (Detail)Lot 11

Back coverLot 39

Inside front coverLot 46

Inside back coverLot 68

Facing page (Detail)Lot 73

CONENS

6 SALES AND ENQUIRIES

12 HE AUCION CAALOGUE

172 FREQUENLY ASKED QUESIONS

175 CONDIIONS FOR SALE

181 ABSENEE/PROXY BID FORM

183 INDEX


4/97


DINESH VAZIRANICo-founder

EDIORIAL EAM: Meera Godbole-Krishnamurthy, Rashmi Rajgopal, Eesha Patkar, Lani McGuinness and Rohan Khanna

FINANCE ENQUIRIES: Vinay Bhate and Anjali Ghatge

SHIPPING AND LOGISICS ENQUIRIES: Haresh Jiandani and Gaurav Yadav

DESIGN: Alka Samant, Jatin Lad and Gaurav Sharma

AUCION ENQUIRIES

Mumbai Email: auction@saffro nart.comel: +91 22 2432 2898 / 2436 4113 extension 203/209/205 | Fax: +91 22 2432 1187

New Delhi Email: [email protected] | el: +91 11 2430 4458/ 2436 9415 | Fax: +91 11 2436 9416

USA Email: [email protected] | el: +1 212 627 5006 | Fax: +1 212 627 5008

UK Email: [email protected] | el: +44 20 7409 7974 | Fax: +44 20 7409 2854

INERNAIONAL SALES EAM AUCIONWednesday, 24 February 2016Registration: 6.30 pmAuction: 7.30 pm

Industry Manor, Ground Floor, Appasaheb Marathe Marg, Prabhadevi, Mumbai 400025

VIEWINGS AND PREVIEWS

AUCIONEERS

DINESH VAZIRANIHUGO WEIHE

NEW DELHIPreview and cocktailsTursday, 28 January 20167 pm onwards

Te Drawing Room

Te Oberoi, Dr. Zakir Hussain MargNew Delhi 110003, India

Viewings and Appointments28 January - 6 February 201610.30 am - 7 pm, Monday to SaturdaySunday by appointment

Saffronart

Te Drawing Room, Te OberoiDr. Zakir Hussain Marg, New Delhi 110003, India

MUMBAIPreview and cocktailsWednesday, 17 February 20167 pm onwards

SaffronartIndustry Manor, Ground floorAppasaheb Marathe Marg, PrabhadeviMumbai 400025, India

Viewings and Appointments15 - 24 February 201610.30 am - 7 pm, Monday to Saturday10.30 am - 3 pm, on day of saleSunday by appointment

SaffronartIndustry Manor, Ground floorAppasaheb Marathe Marg, PrabhadeviMumbai 400025, India

ADDRESS

Mumbai Industry Manor, Ground and 3rd Floor, Appasaheb Marathe Marg, Prabhadevi, Mumbai 4000

New Delhi Te Oberoi, Dr. Zakir Hussain Marg, New Delhi 110003

New York Te Fuller Building, 595 Madison Avenue, Suite 900, New York, NY 10022

London 73 New Bond Street, 1st Floor, London, W1S 1RS

MUMBAI

DELHI LONDON NEW YORK

HUGO WEIHEChief Executive Officer

AASHISH DUBEY

Senior ManagerClient Relations

PUNYA NAGPAL

Senior Vice PresidentClient Relations

DHANASHREE WAIKAR

Associate Vice PresidentClient Relations

SHAHEEN VIRANI


DEEPIKA SHAH

ManagerClient Relations

AMI KUMAR JAIN


SNEHA SIKAND

Senior ManagerClient Relations

AMI KAPOOR

Senior Manager Jewellery

ABHA HOUSEGO

Vice PresidentInternational

ANU NANAVATI

Vice PresidentInternational

MINAL VAZIRANICo-founder


5/97


“I paint because I derive pleasure from paintingand I try to give pleasure to others. Tat is my

philosophy of art.” N S BENDRE

“If one is fortunate, painting

continually happens within onese V S GAIONDE

“When all the paths in all the directions are closed,

the only path left is that of painting and by God’s

grace it is always open.” PRABHAKAR BARWE

“I have interpreted the universe in

terms of five primary colours: blac

white, red, blue and yellow.” S H RAZA

“Artists don’t make objects. Artists

make mythologies.” ANISH KAPOOR

“It is the intangible which is

now my goal.” JEHANGIR SABAVALA

“Life is like a circus. Behind the garish make-up, there is

pain hidden somewhere. Deep within.” MANJI BAWA

“Te face of art is somewh

like that of the sun. It does

not communicate but give J SWAMINAHAN


6/97


From left to right: yeb Mehta, Krishen Khanna, M F Husain, S H Raza, and K K

© Dinodia Phot

“In Art, man reveals himself and not his obje RABINDRANA


7/97


Ara’s skilled use of thickly layered paint to create an

impression of light and shadow is evident in this rare

landscape painting. Te architectural elements and

tree emerge from the textured layers of paint against a

comparatively flat blue sky.

Nudes and still-lifes were Ara’s main themes, and

landscape paintings were a “...deviation in his choice of

subject [that] comes as a pleasant surprise.” (Kishore

Singh ed., Manifestations 5: 20th Century Indian Art , New

Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery, 2011, p. 23) Te ata Institute of

Fundamental Research houses a significant collection of

rare landscape paintings by the artist.

PROPERY FROM HE COLLECION OFL. GENERAL DAYARAM HAPAR

1

K H ARA (1914 - 1985)Untitled

Signed ‘ARA’ (lower left); bearing Chemould labelon the stretcher (on the reverse)Oil on canvas23 x 18 in (58.5 x 45.5 cm)

Rs 3,00,000 - 5,00,000

$ 4,415 - 7,355

PROCEEDS FROM HE SALE OF HIS LO WILL BENEFIHE INDORE CANCER FOUNDAION CHARIABLE RUS


8/97


PROPERY FROM HE COLLECION OF

L. GENERAL DAYARAM HAPAR

2

K H ARA (1914 - 1985)

UntitledSigned ‘K H ARA’ (lower right); bearing Chemouldlabel on the stretcher (on the reverse)Oil on canvas23.25 x 18.25 in (59 x 46.3 cm)

Rs 3,00,000 - 5,00,000

$ 4,415 - 7,355

PROCEEDS FROM HE SALE OF HIS LO WILL BENEFIHE INDORE CANCER FOUNDAION CHARIABLE RUS

PROPERY FROM AN IMPORANPRIVAE COLLECION, NEW DELHI

3

K H ARA (1914 - 1985)

UntitledSigned ‘ARA’ (lower left)Watercolour on paper30 x 22 in (76.4 x 55.6 cm)

Rs 6,00,000 - 8,00,000

$ 8,825 - 11,765

3


9/97


4

F N SOUZA (1924 - 2002)

Untitled (Portrait of a Man)

Signed and dated ‘Souza 56’ (upper left)1956Pen and watercolour on paper9.5 x 7.5 in (24.3 x 19.3 cm)

Rs 4,00,000 - 6,00,000

$ 5,885 - 8,825

PROVENANCE:Collection of Nicholas readwell from the 1960sPrivate Collection, North India

5

F N SOUZA (1924 - 2002)Untitled (Woman in Profile)

Signed and dated ‘Souza 1952’ (lower right)1952Charcoal and pencil on paper pasted on paper15 x 22.25 in (38.2 x 56.4 cm)

Rs 10,00,000 - 15,00,000

$ 14,710 - 22,060

PROVENANCE:Formerly from the Collection of Julian SherrierChristie’s, New York, 12 September 2012, lot 341Private Collection, New Delhi


10/97


6

M F HUSAIN (1913 - 2011)

UntitledSigned in Devnagari (lower right)Oil on canvas pasted on board13.5 x 9.5 in (34.2 x 24.1 cm)

Rs 18,00,000 - 22,00,000

$ 26,475 - 32,355

PROVENANCE:Saffronart, 19-20 September 2012, lot 75From a Private International Collection© Jyoti Bhatt


11/97

8


8

M F HUSAIN (1913 - 2011)

UntitledSigned ‘Husain’ (upper right) and in Devnagari (upper left)Mixed media on paper pasted on board29.75 x 21.75 in (75.4 x 55.2 cm)

Rs 15,00,000 - 20,00,000

$ 22,060 - 29,415

PROVENANCE:An Important Private Collection, JapanSaffronart, 21 July 2011, lot 31

PROPERY FROM HE COLLECION OFAN EMINEN FAMILY, MUMBAI

7

M F HUSAIN (1913 - 2011)

Sindhu of Gaja GaaminiSigned ‘Husain’ and inscribed ‘Sindhu of Gaja Gaamini’ (lower right)Watercolour, ink and sketchpen on paper14.5 x 21 in (36.7 x 53.6 cm)

Rs 5,00,000 - 7,00,000

$ 7,355 - 10,295


12/97

“Te central concern of Husain’s art, and its dominant

motif, is woman... In Husain’s work, woman has the gift of

eagerness... like those in ancient Jain miniature paintings,

and an inward attentiveness, as if she were listening to

the life coursing within her.” (Richard Bartholomew and

Shiv S Kapur, Husain , New York: Harry N Abrams, Inc.,

1971, p. 46)

In this rare painting from 1965, Husain depicts two

women enclosed in embryo-like cocoons. Te body of

the woman in blue is turned towards the viewer but

her face is in profile. Her right hand is raised in a mudra.

Te woman enclosed in brown, in contrast, is seated

with her back to the viewer, her face and raised right

hand not quite defined. Husain uses two very different

techniques to paint the women: while the lady in blue is

moulded like clay, the figure next to her appears brittle

and fragmented.

Husain’s depictions of women are deeply rooted in

Indian sculpture and miniature painting. Between 1948

and 1952, he travelled extensively across India and

encountered Jain and Basohli miniature paintings and

Mathura sculptures. Te female forms in his paintings

take their cues from the energy and dynamism of the

female figure in Mathura sculptures. Aspects of Jain

miniature painting techniques also seep into his work, as

seen by the compartmentalisation of the two figures in

this painting.

“Our stories are short

We always begin at the end

Tere in the distant villages,

Women sit in groups,

like far-flung tin roofs,

telling stories unknown to themselves.” M F HUSAIN


13/97

PROPERY FROM HE COLLECION OF ANEMINEN FAMILY, MUMBAI

9

M F HUSAIN (1913 - 2011)

Untitled

Signed in Devnagari and Urdu anddated ‘1 IX 1965’ (lower right)1965Oil on canvas34.75 x 48.25 in (88.2 x 122.3 cm)

Rs 90,00,000 - 1,20,00,000

$ 132,355 - 176,475

PROVENANCE:Acquired directly from the artist in the 1960s


14/97


10

S H RAZA (B. 1922)

La Source

Signed and dated ‘RAZA ‘60’ (lower right);signed and dated again ‘RAZA P_278’ 60’and inscribed ‘”La Source”’ (on the reverse)1960Acrylic on canvas29 x 19 in (73.7 x 48.3 cm)

Rs 35,00,000 - 45,00,000

$ 51,475 - 66,180

PROVENANCE:Saffronart, 4-6 May 2004, lot 21Private Collection, UK

“After many long years of

thinking and working,

I find the mysteries are

so great, so beyond

human comprehension

– that they defy the

order of logic. So that

I wonder if a system

of logic exists, at all.

Reasoning, order, logic.

Tese are there at thebeginning. Tese are the

fundamental, elemental

inquiries, which are

indispensible. Tereafter

you go to other levels –

where logic is left behind.” S H RAZA

© S H Raza


15/97


Manjit Bawa, New Delhi, 6 Janua

Source: Te imes of India Group. © BCCL. All Rights R


16/97


PROPERY FROM HE COLLECION OF A DISINGUISHED LADY, MUMBAI

11

MANJI BAWA (1941 - 2008)

Untitled

Signed and dated ‘Manjit 92’ (on the reverse)1992Oil on canvas59.25 x 68.5 in (150.5 x 174 cm)

Rs 2,00,00,000 - 3,00,00,000

$ 294,120 - 441,180

PUBLISHED:Marcella C Sirhandi, “Manipulating Cultural Idioms”, Art Journal , Vol. 58, No. 3,College Art Association, Autumn1999, pp. 40-47 (illustrated)Amrita Jhaveri, A Guide to 101 Indian Contemporary Artists , Mumbai: India BookHouse, 2005, p. 16 (illustrated)

Te central figure in this classic Bawa painting, set against

a flat, monochromatic background bears a strong

resemblance to Lord Krishna, who is often portrayed

as a blue-skinned cowherd sporting a peacock feather

on his head, playing a flute and surrounded by cattle.

Blue-bodied but without the peacock feather, and

surrounded by dogs rather than cows, Bawa’s figure

might also be Ranjha, from the tragic-romance of

Punjabi literature, Heer-Ranjha. Bawa, who was deeply

influenced by Indian mythology, miniature paintings,

and Sufism, meant for his painting to have multiple

interpretations.

In a 1996 interview with Marcella C Sirhandi, associate

professor in art history at Oklahoma State University,

Bawa is ambiguous on the identification when he says,

“It is not Krishna... It is Ranja [sic]... Even if it is Krishna,

it doesn’t matter – Ranja is also a flute player, and Ranja

was a divine lover, more than Krishna, because Ranja gave

everything for love.” (Interview with Marcella C Sirhandi,

“Manipulating Cultural Idioms”, Art Journal , Vol. 58,

No. 3, College Art Association, Autumn 1999, pp. 40-47,

accessed through JSOR) Bawa draws the connection

between Krishna as Venugopala and Ranjha, both flute

players who epitomise true love.

In the same interview, Bawa ascribes another layer

of meaning to the present lot. Shaken by the violent

communal riots that followed the demolition of the

Babri Masjid in 1992, he describes the dogs in this

painting as representations of secular creatures who are

not defined by a religious identity. “Te fundamentalists

are breaking my culture. So I do paintings like Ranja

with dogs... Te dog is anti-Hindu and anti-Muslim

both. Showing the dog is antireligion.” (Interview with

Marcella C Sirhandi)

Beyond the multi-layered meaning and symbolism,

Bawa’s Ranjha is striking for the interplay of colours –

the deep maroon background, the blue skin and yellow

dhoti of the central figure and the white, pastel shades

of the dogs. Both, human and animals are rendered with

equal care and delineation, and they seem to exist in an

undisturbed world of understanding and communion.

Tis image was used by the Delhi-based NGO Sahmat topromote secular values

Venugopala under a Kadamba ree with Sakhis , anjore School,mid-20th centurySaffronart Online Auction of anjore Paintings , 21-22 January 2016,lot 3


17/97


“Nobody would listen to m

flute; I’ll play for the dogs.” SUFI POE


18/97


13MANJI BAWA (1941 - 2008)

Untitled

Signed and dated ‘Manjit 2003’ (on the reverse)2003Oil on canvas26.25 x 19.25 in (66.5 x 48.6 cm)

Rs 40,00,000 - 60,00,000

$ 58,825 - 88,240

PROPERY FROM AN IMPORAN PRIVAE COLLECION, NEW DELHI

12

MANJI BAWA (1941 - 2008)

Untitled

Signed and dated ‘Manjit Bawa 98’ (lower right); bearing Vadehra ArtGallery label on the hardboard (on the reverse)1998Ink on paper14.5 x 21.25 in (36.8 x 53.9 cm)

Rs 7,00,000 - 9,00,000

$ 10,295 - 13,240

PROVENANCE:Vadehra Art Gallery

Te theme of Krishna as the flute player recurs

in this signed pencil drawing by Bawa. A seated

figure similar to the one in the previous lot plays

his flute to a group of dogs. Te clean, flowing

lines of the study capture the thought process and

compositional clarity of Bawa’s finished canvases.

“Bawa’s paintings usually take shape around a

single figure or a group... [He] pares down the icon

to its essence, aiming, he has said, ‘to create a sense

of pure aesthetics, so simple that even a child can

respond to the image’... Besides large oils, Bawa has

worked in the miniature format and on a series of

drawings, which are mostly preparatory.” (Amrita

Jhaveri, A Guide to 101 Modern and Contemporary

Indian Artists , Mumbai: India Book House Pvt.

Ltd., 2005, p. 16)


19/97


PROPERY FROM HE COLLECION OFMALI GILANI, NEW DELHI

14

N S BENDRE (1910 - 1992)

UntitledSigned and dated in Devnagari (lower right)1970Oil on canvas34 x 40 in (86.3 x 101.6 cm)

Rs 30,00,000 - 40,00,000

$ 44,120 - 58,825

PROVENANCEAcquired directly from the artist

N S Bendre painted the subtle, yet highly textured present lot at a

of great creativity when he settled in Mumbai in 1966, after exte

travels through India and Europe. Te exposure made him more att

to “aspects beyond his immediate experience, of total perceptio

which his mind or emotion played a significant part.” (Ram Cha

Bendre: he Painter and the Person , oronto: Te Bendre Found

for Art and Culture & Indus Corporation, 1990, p. 60) Te two

are the only points of focus in an otherwise soothing, meditativ

of beige leaves.

Bendre’s artistic career began at the State School of Art in Indo

1929. Over six decades, he experimented with Cubism, Expressio

and Pointillism to express Indian themes such as birds and ani

figures, and landscapes of Indian villages. In the latter half of his c

he “gives prime importance to his visual experience, but he doe

resort to naturalistic representation. He interprets it on his canvas

own terms and offers what he has seen and enjoyed...” (Chatterji ,


20/97


“In terms of spirit, these paintings are detached,

calm contemplations. Ram Kumar expresses

himself through colour, mass, structure, movement.

And in these and with all these Ram Kumar creates

his magnificent paintings – works, statements,

allusions, observations, inferences on nature. Tey

appear to be effortless and inevitable in their

compositions.” RICHARD BARHOLOMEW


21/97


15

RAM KUMAR (B. 1924)

Untitled

Signed and dated ‘Ram Kumar 2004’(on the reverse)2004Acrylic on canvas42 x 70 in (106.4 x 177.8 cm)

Rs 40,00,000 - 60,00,000

$ 58,825 - 88,240

PROVENANCE:Private Collection, North India

16

RAM KUMAR (B. 1924)

Untitled

Signed and dated in Devnagari (lower right)1977Pen and ink on paper pasted on mountboard11 x 15 in (28 x 38.2 cm)

Rs 2,00,000 - 3,00,000

$ 2,945 - 4,415

PROVENANCE:An Important Private Collection, New Delhi

16

Ram Kumar finds the perfect middle ground between

the representational landscape and the abstracted one,

with room for rumination. Te present lot is created

through the layered application of earth tones on canvas

to reveal the rocky landscape found within nature.

Hints of cooler tones underneath warmer ones suggest

Kumar’s devotion to revealing the reality of these spaces

for reflection. When speaking of his process Ram Kumar

has stated, “Tere is an enigmatic mystery about the

inner life of a colour applied on canvas. It stands out by

itself in the beginning but slowly it starts building up

relationships with other areas, other colours, and forms.

Tis continues. Tere is a pause, a silence, an accident and

in the end some sort of harmony.” (Gagan Gill ed., “From

Ram Kumar’s Notebooks,” Ram Kumar: A Journey Within ,

New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 1966, p. 202) Te present

lot embodies Kumar’s talent for taking apart a landscape

and then putting it back together in a way where the

tones of colour create a discourse which inspires both

memory and emotion.

Moved by the setting and landscapes he encountered

on a trip to Banaras in the 1960s, Kumar abandoned his

previously figurative paintings. He embarked on a new

direction in his oeuvre, in an attempt to express the

emotions evoked by landscapes. His abstract landscapes

capture the true essence of place without the use of

overt symbolism. Richard Bartholomew has stated,

“Whenever I see a Ram Kumar painting, and a landscape,

I get the feeling that I’ve been there before. Te manner

in which memory functions through deliberate recall

and association. Te very forms of composition suggest

that. Te hard and soft, the tangible and the elusive, the

structure and sensation. Te structure of what lies before

the eyes and the sensation of what lies behind. Tis is the

link between the painter’s self and our own.” (Gill, p. 124)

15


22/97



23/97


PROPERY FROM AN IMPORAN PRIVAE COLLECION, MUMBAI

17

AKBAR PADAMSEE (B. 1928)

UntitledSigned and dated ‘PADAMSEE 2005’ (upper right)2005Oil on canvas35.25 x 53.5 in (89.8 x 135.7 cm)

Rs 90,00,000 - 1,20,00,000

$ 132,355 - 176,475

PROVENANCE:Acquired directly from the artist

Padamsee began painting his Metascape series in 1970

and coined the term “Metascape” to describe landscapes

stripped of all geographic and chronologic specificity.

“I’m not interested in location or landscape. My general

theme is nature – mountains, trees, water, the elements,

and obviously one is influenced by the environment, but

I’m not interested in painting Rajasthan or the desert of

whatever. When I paint a tree, a mountain, or a river, Iam really interested in ‘the river’, ‘the mountain’, ‘the tree’.

Te paintings are neither abstract nor representational.”

(as quoted in Eunice D’Souza, “Akbar Padamsee’s

Metascapes”, he Economic imes , 30 November 1975)

ranscending the limitations of ‘conventional geography’,

the present lot challenges conventional notions of

time and space. Te abstract landscape is composed of

“... brilliantly choreographed planes of light and dark made

in thick impasto which evoke mountains, field, sky and

water. Te controlled cadence of the colors breaks into

a throbbing intensity as the artist in his most masterly

works, evokes infinite time and space.” (Yashodhara

Dalmia, Indian Contemporary Art Post Independence ,

New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 1997, p. 17)

Padamsee’s Metascapes “… include both a truly

detached and analytical approach and a fascination for

tautological rules. In the paintings the image prods the

exercise, form being distilled to reveal the core. Curiously

the endeavour is as old as it is modern: the artistic pursuit

of a philosophical intent.” (Mala Marwah, Lalit Kala

Contemporary 23 , New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi, 1979,

p. 36)

© Manisha Gera Baswani


24/97



25/97


Te expansive, panoramic view of India’s western coastline

in he Green Cape reveals the wondrous beauty that

Jehangir Sabavala finds within nature. Sabavala creates

quiet, solitary landscapes with transcendent scenes that

offer space for contemplation. “At the level of immediate

sensation, we are struck by the obvious physical beauty

of the painting as a product, process and parallel reality.

And as we enter Sabavala’s spaces, with trepidation, to

inhabit them, we apprehend their disquieting tranquillity;

the paradox underscores the artist’s uncertainty about hisplace in the universe, his nostalgia for the infinite.” (Ranjit

Hoskote, Pilgrim, Exile, Sorcerer: he Painterly Evolution of

Jehangir Sabavala , Bombay: Eminence Designs Pvt. Ltd.,

1998, p. 101)

Te present lot suggests a mystical bond between the

individual and the cosmos. Sabavala’s figures are often

described as pilgrims, or lost souls, yearning through

serene terrains, making their way to the receding horizon.

Tis sense of seeking is achieved through the subtle

interpretation of Cubism which he studied in England and

Paris in the 1960s. Te carefully constructed, geometric

colour planes, combined with his subtle palette create a

sense of luminosity. Sabavala states, “I have been seduced

by a palette of broken tones... by a visible search for a

more distilled essence. I think that so much more can

be said by the half-tone than by the blatancy of primary

colour... I prefer to haunt a mysterious world of veiled

lights and sudden discoveries.” (Hoskote, p. 101)

Sabavala’s work is aesthetically sublime and is also

intrinsically laced with philosophical thought. He was

very interested in the writings of the French philosophers,

including Albert Camus, who explored notions of spiritual

estrangement. “Sabavala’s paintings have preserved an

introspective, melancholy lyricism, as well as the ache of

the Sublime. Tese paintings are tinted with nostalgia,

as for moments once possessed, for homelands once

known and now forever beyond the horizon of what can

be known.” (Hoskote, p. 99)

Preliminary sketch made by Sabavala. Te artist maintained sketchbooks toplan his paintings.

Courtesy, Te rustees, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu S angrahalaya, Mumbai

Page from the artist’s sketchbook.Courtesy, Te rustees, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu S angrahalaya, Mumbai

With special thanks to Shirin Sabavala for her generosity in providing us a ccessto her personal archives.

PROPERY FROM HE COLLECION OF AN IMPORAN FAMILY, NEW DELHI

18

JEHANGIR SABAVALA (1922 - 2011)

Te Green Cape

Signed and dated ‘Sabavala ‘74’ (lower right); datedand inscribed “Te Green Cape” ‘74’ (on the reverse)1974

Oil on canvas29.5 x 49.5 in (75 x 126 cm)

Rs 2,50,00,000 - 3,50,00,000

$ 367,650 - 514,710

PROVENANCE:Property of a Distinguished Lady

EXHIBIED: Jehangir Sabavala , Mumbai: Gallery Chemould at Jehangir Art Gallery, 19-25 March 1976 Jehangir Sabavala , New Delhi: Black Partridge Gallery, 16-26 April 1976


26/97


PROPERY FROM HE COLLECION OF

AN IMPORAN FAMILY, NEW DELHI

19

JEHANGIR SABAVALA (1922 - 2011)Untitled

Signed and dated ‘London ‘46 S abavala’ (lower right)1946Pencil on paper pasted on mountboard

13 x 8 in (32.9 x 20.1 cm)Rs 5,00,000 - 7,00,000

$ 7,355 - 10,295

PROVENANCE:Saffronart, 21-22 April 2011, lot 62An Important Private Collection, New Delhi

PUBLISHED:Mulk Raj Anand, Sabavala , Sadanga Series, Mumbai: Vakil, Feffer &Simon, 1966, p. 12 (illustrated)

Tis figure study demonstrates Sabavala’s comm

over line and form. Te artist does not merely rende

figure with anatomical accuracy, he shows the v

the beauty and sensuality of the model. Te define

muscles and the soft modelling of the torso revea

artist’s concentrated engagement with the renderi

his subject.

Tis study was made in 1946 when Sabavala had en

at the Heatherley School of Art in London. Durin

two years there, he developed his artistic skills and fo

long-lasting relations with people who were to for

important part of his life. It was here that he me

developed his companionship with Shirin Dastur, w

he married two years later.Image courtesy of Shirin Sabavala


27/97


21

JAMINI ROY (1887 - 1972)

Untitled (Tree Drummers)

Signed in Bengali (lower right)Gouache on card paper13 x 19.25 in (33.2 x 48.8 cm)

Rs 10,00,000 - 15,00,000

$ 14,710 - 22,060

NON-EXPORABLE NAIONAL AR REASURE

PROVENANCE:Private American Collection, BrunswickPrivate Collection, New Delhi

20

JAMINI ROY (1887 - 1972)

Untitled

Signed in Bengali (lower right)

empera on paper pasted on board15.75 x 19.75 in (40 x 50 cm)

Rs 12,00,000 - 15,00,000

$ 17,650 - 22,060

NON-EXPORABLE NAIONAL AR REASURE

PROVENANCE:Private Collection, UKPrivate Collection, New Delhi


28/97


PROPERY OF A GENLEMAN, NEW DELHI

22

M F HUSAIN (1913 - 2011)

Arrival

Inscribed ‘ARRIVAL’ (on the reverse)Acrylic on canvas35.5 x 25.5 in (90 x 64.8 cm)

Rs 70,00,000 - 90,00,000

$ 102,945 - 132,355

PROVENANCE:Private Collection, UKChristie’s, New York, 20 September 2006, lot 143

Te current lot embodies some of the most characteristic

elements of M F Husain’s style: earthy yellows, oranges and

browns, and bold reds and greens assimilate with strong

lines, clear spatial division and sculpturesque figures, all

of which serve to create strong contrasts between the

different elements of the painting. Te female body-type

in Husain’s work evolved from his study of ancient Indian

sculpture, and his recognisable approach to the female

form first appeared in his work in 1950. o him, the

high-breasted, taut forms represented the principle of

energy and dynamism. Masks also feature in many of his

works as an instrument of transformation, and a bridge

between two planes of reality. Te use of masks imbues

works such as the present lot with ritualistic meaning

and suggests the divided nature of human identity. With

figures contained within figures, this work is obviously

modern, yet at the same time it remains uniquely Indian

in nature. Husain’s inimitable style resulted in ancient

icons taking on new meanings related to modern India.Relief of Alasa Kanya at Vaital Deul, Bhubaneswar

Source: Shiladityaa, via Wikimedia Commons


29/97


23

M F HUSAIN (1913 - 2011)

Untitled (Women In Yellow)

Signed in Devnagari and dated ‘’70’ (lower right)1970Oil on canvas53 x 29 in (134.6 x 73.7 cm)

Rs 1,20,00,000 - 1,80,00,000

$ 176,475 - 264,710

PROVENANCE:Acquired from Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi, in the early 1970sSotheby’s, New York, 17 September 2009, lot 25Private Collection, USA

EXHIBIED:Husain at hundred: Masterworks celebrating the 100 th Birthday of

India’s most iconic artist , New York: Aicon Gallery,17 September - 24 October 2015


30/97



24

ARPIA SINGH (1937)

Untitled

Signed and dated ‘ARPIA SINGH 91’ (upper 1991Silver and gold paint on fabric83.75 x 39 in (213 x 99 cm)

Rs 35,00,000 - 45,00,000

$ 51,475 - 66,180

Te present lot, painted on black

demonstrates Arpita Singh’s abiding inter

textiles, and specifically, the traditional Ka

embroidery of her native Bengal, spawne

her time designing textiles at the We

Service Centres in Calcutta and New

in the mid-1960s. Her work is influence

folk art, miniature painting and refer

to history and mythology, often feat

gravity-defying figures and objects set ag

complex backgrounds.

Paris-based historian Deepak Ananth, i

book Arpita Singh, published in 2015 w

“...the proliferation of floral or vegetal or

motifs... all these traits of many different m

of weaving and quilting and needlewor

also distinctive features that come into p

the representational strategies adopted b

painter from the 1980s...” (Quoted in Sou

Das, “Her Playful Perversity”, telegraph

5 July 2015)


31/97



32/97


26

SAKI BURMAN (B. 1935)

Untitled

Signed ‘SAKI BURMAN’ (lower right)1970sOil on canvas25 x 19 in (63.4 x 48 cm)

Rs 16,00,000 - 18,00,000

$ 23,530 - 26,475

PROVENANCE:Acquired from a Private European Collector

he Faraway Song is comprised of five distinct scenes depicting

mythology and other iconographies, which can be viewed separately

or together as a composition. Inspired by his own dreams, as well as

the poetry of Rabindranath agore and Charles Baudelaire, Burman’s

paintings create a romantic world of grace and harmony. His unique

marbling technique is seen here in a combination of hues which

divide the canvas into multiple narratives creating an overall discourse

between figures and form.

“Te impact is not much unlike a surrealist inwardness ensured by

a mechanism of aesthetic ordering of a topsy-turvy pictorial world...

there are often clearly marked areas of smooth and textured passages

of paint, played off one against the other, as a chequered colour

groundwork for the image to convey a pure imaginative experience of

strong visual sensation. Te motifs that enact this experience are, often

in fragmented shape, humans and animals; mythical birds and beasts;

heads and torsos of what looks like sculpted female nudes; trees and

groves in luxuriant growth and elegant architectural forms.” (Manasij

Majumder, Sakti Burman: Dreamer on the Arc , Bombay: Pundole Art

Gallery, 2001, pp. 128-129)

25

SAKI BURMAN (B. 1935)Te Faraway Song

Signed ‘SAKI BURMAN’ (lower centre);inscribed ‘SAKI BURMAN “HE FARAWAYSONG” 2006’ (on the reverse)2006Oil on canvas34.5 x 45 in (87.5 x 114.5 cm)

Rs 50,00,000 - 70,00,000

$ 73,530 - 102,945

PROVENANCE:Acquired directly from the artistPrivate Collection, New Delhi

EXHIBIED:Manifestations XI: 75 Artists 20th Century Indian Art ,New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery,15 October - 15 November 2014

PUBLISHED:Kishore Singh ed., Manifestations XI: 75 Artists 20th Century Indian Art New Delhi: Delhi Art Galleryexhibition catalogue, 2014, p. 108 (illustrated)


33/97


PROPERY FROM AN EMINEN PRIVAE COLLECION, NEW DELHI

27

F N SOUZA (1924 - 2002)

Untitled

Signed and dated ‘Souza 63’ (upper left)1963Charcoal and oil on canvas34 x 40 in (86.4 x 101.4 cm)

Rs 70,00,000 - 90,00,000

$ 102,945 - 132,355

PROVENANCE:An Important Private Collection, JapanSaffronart, 9-11 September 2009, lot 84

Tis large scale charcoal and oil on canvas by Souza has

the detailing and mastery over line which is evident in

his works on paper. Souza’s characteristic line-work is

used to both delineate and decorate each feature in

the present lot. Set against a simple, monochromatic

background, each object in the still-life is endowed with

the depth and intensity of the artist’s trademark cross-

hatching technique.

As a child in Goa, Souza was fascinated by the pomp

and pageantry of Roman Catholicism. Its rituals, and the

ornate objects associated with them, played a large role

in shaping this awe. As he explains, the Church “…had a

tremendous influence over me, not its dogmas but its

grand architecture and the splendour of its services…

Te smell of incense.” (Francis Newton Souza, Words and

Lines , London: Villiers Publication Ltd., 1959, p. 10)

Over time Souza found this religious atmosphere

repressive, and its puritanical tenets hypocritical. Souza’s

unresolved relationship of wonder and contempt for

Catholicism infiltrated every genre of his work. In his

still-lifes, he critically interrogated the notion of divine

sanction, and its various interpretations and vehicles.

In some of his still-life paintings Souza painted objects

including the Ciborium, Chalice and Paten that were

clearly ecclesiastical. In others, such as the present lot,

Souza presents everyday vessels in a religious context,

almost as if they stand on an altar awaiting their part in

some liturgical ritual.


34/97



35/97


28

F N SOUZA (1924 - 2002)

Valldemosa

Signed and dated ‘Souza 61’ (lower left); inscribed ‘F.N.Souza Valldemosa1961’, bearing Gallery One label on the stretcher (on the reverse)1961Oil and polyvinyl acetate on canvas28.5 x 44.75 in (72.4 x 113.7 cm)

Rs 1,00,00,000 - 1,50,00,000$ 147,060 - 220,590

PROVENANCE:Gallery One, LondonSaffronart, 6-8 December 2005, lot 47Private Collection, UK

PUBLISHED:Edwin Mullins, Souza , London: Anthony Blond Ltd., 1962,p. 59 (illustrated)

Valldemosa takes its name from the scenic village in Mallorca, Spain. Souza

captures the essence of the distinct townscape of houses and monasteries

clustered against the ramuntana range in the background. At the centre

of the painting is the iconic 14th century Carthusian monastery, the Real

Cartuja de Valldemossa, recognisable from its steeple. Souza created

this painting a year after he was awarded a scholarship by the Italian

Government to visit Italy and travel to countries in Europe, including Spain.

Te townscapes he created during this period were markedly different from

his earlier, darker landscapes of the 1950s. Te present lot, with its crisp,

black lines and smooth planes of colour, was created in 1961 when, for the

first time, Souza used acrylics or polyvinyl acetate emulsion, a thin glue-like

binder for pigments. Departing from painting on board, he had turned to

canvas painting in this brief, experimental period. Souza’s canvas is divided

into cool and warm colour planes. Te pale yellow and white architecture

complements the earthy brown of the ground, the muted green of the

mountains, and the halcyon blue of the sky. With its luminescent quality,

Valldemosa is a rare work that marks a significant phase in the artist’s career.

Souza’s choice of painting the village of Valldemossa gains further

significance in its association with legendary musicians, artists and writers.

Te Real Cartuja had served as inspiration to composer Frédéric Chopin,

who lived there in 1838-39 with French writer Aurore Dupin. Immortalised

by his stay, Valldemossa continues to attract visitors from around the world.

Valldemossa, Spain

Source: Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 3.0

Te painting has been published in the artist’smonograph, Edwin Mullins, Souza, on p. 97 asSpanish Landscape.


36/97


restricted to one school of expression. He constantly

strove to experiment and innovate with material, style

and technique. At 100 cm in height, the present lot is an

unusually large work which retains the smooth rhythm

and elongated line that Chaudhuri is known for.

Te present lot was formerly in the collection of Eugene

and Penelope Rosenberg. Eugene Rosenberg was one

of the leading exponents of modernist architecture

in Post-war Britain. He was known for fostering a close

relationship between art and architecture, and believed

that buildings provided ideal spaces in which to house

art and sculpture for daily enjoyment. Rosenberg wo

with Le Corbusier in Paris before setting up the

Yorke, Rosenberg and Mardall in Britain with F R S Y

and C S Mardall. Tey were responsible for some o

most original architectural projects of the time, inclu

Gatwick Airport, the John Radcliffe Hospital in O

and Manchester Magistrates Court. In 1992 Eu

Rosenburg’s book Architect’s Choice: Art in Archit

in Great Britain since 1945 was published by Tam

Hudson, which he hoped would continue to in

alliances between architects and artists.

© Jyoti Bhatt

29

SANKHO CHAUDHURI (B. 1916)

Untitled (Standing Figure)

Circa 1950sWoodHeight: 39.25 in (100 cm)

Rs 5,00,000 - 7,00,000

$ 7,355 - 10,295

PROVENANCE:Galerie Palette, ZürichRoland, Browse and Delbano, LondonAcquired from the above by Eugene and Penelope Rosenberg,28 December 1959Private Collection, North India

C S Mardall, F R S Yorke and Eugene Rosenberg.

© RIBA Collections, 2016

Chaudhuri is considered one of the stalwarts of Modern Indian

sculpture, whose work is significant in the evolution of Indian

sculpture away from the academic style based on mid-Victorian

ideals of naturalism that had developed under the British Raj.

In the 1940s, new styles and media were explored by sculptors,

with a strong leaning towards abstraction. Chaudhuri was a

student of Ramkinkar Baij, who was himself a key figure in this

early emancipation from the mainstream British style. Tough he

was profoundly influenced by Baij, Chaudhuri was by no means


37/97


Image courtesy of DAG MODERN A

Seen here third row (left to right) are JeramPatel, Himmat Shah, Jyoti Bhatt. In the middlerow, (left to right) are J Swaminathan, RajeshMehra, Raghav Kaneria (hiding behindthe leaf); In front row are Balkrishna Patel,Ambadas, G Sheikh (in glasses) and S G Nikam


38/97


30

HIMMA SHAH (B. 1933)a) Untitled

Signed and dated ‘Himmat 95’ (on the inside of the hollow)1995erracottaHeight: 6.25 in (16.4 cm)

b) Untitled

Signed ‘Himmat’ (lower left)Pencil, pen and ink on paper pasted on board8.25 x 5.75 in (21 x 14.7 cm)

Rs 4,00,000 - 6,00,000

$ 5,885 - 8,825

(Set of two)

a

b

Himmat Shah’s bronze and terracotta sculptures have

a monumental presence. “Himmat’s favoured material

is terracotta, a material that reflects India’s longstanding

village economies, supported by the cycle of birth

and rebirth of the essential material, clay. Only some

terracotta objects pass into history, many do not bear

the imprint of the artist, and all speak of the early

wonder of man mimicking nature. It is entirely possible

that Himmat’s response to clay, which needs the other

elements of water and fire to gain form, is at the level of

the philosophical, as much as of the material.” (Gayatri

Sinha, An Unreasoned Act of Being , Ahmedabad: Mapin

Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 2007, p. 38) Shah uses terracotta

to create a continuum between the past and present

by offering a commentary about man and the mark he

makes on the earth.

Shah’s heads speak of a disquieting humanity as his

cubist forms are anti-classical and have a more powerful

depiction. He creates markings and cross-hatching on

the clay to suggest the destructive forces that come

into play with man’s existence. His background in

painting and drawing is reflected in his use of the line

to create texture on the clay. Having shown himself as

a multi-disciplinary artist, Shah immersed himself in

many mediums before coming to the realisation that

he was most passionate about his sculptural practice.

“In a sense, his works are portraits, but their locus draws

from past and present, generic and individual man. Te

patina, furrows and the sharp cleavages of long ye ars of

human experience are visible, as Himmat invites us to

share in a monumental quietude and fraternity of being

human.” (Sinha, p. 51)

© Manisha Gera Baswani


39/97


PROPERY FROM AN IMPORAN PRIVAE COLLECION, NEW DELHI

31

JAGDISH SWAMINAHAN (1928 - 1994)

Untitled

Signed and dated in Devnagari (lower right)1970Oil on canvas49.5 x 68.5 in (125.5 x 174 cm)

Rs 50,00,000 - 70,00,000

$ 73,530 - 102,945

"Te introduction of the representatio

context in terms of colour geometry gi

birth to psycho-symbolic connotations. T

a mountain remains not a mountain b

becomes the abode of Shiva. It becomes

totem capable of exercising its magical eterinfluence on those who come within its field

vision." J SWAMINAHAN


40/97


Jagdish Swaminathan’s art was informed by his profound

interest in the folk and tribal art of Central India. Born in

Simla in 1928, it was not until the 1950s that Swaminathan

began to paint full-time. At this time he questioned, and

rejected, the notion that Indian modernism developed

from encounters with the West. In 1962 he, along with

some others, formed Group 1890, which was vehemently

opposed to both the idealism of the Bengal School

and the mannerism of European Modernism. Instead,

Swaminathan strove to find the roots of a truly Indian

Modern art in the foundations of Indian art as traced

through tribal traditions.

During this period, Swaminathan experimented with

totemic symbols from early societies in a constant

quest to simplify, to find the origins, to return to purity.

Although his practice eventually segued into the Bird,

Mountain and ree series that he is well-known for, he

returned to and refined his earlier obsession with tribal

and folk arts in the 1980s, following his founding of the

Roopanker Museum of Art at Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal at

the invitation of the government of Madhya Pra

Exploring what he himself described as his “na

bent for the primeval” (J Swaminathan, “Te Cygan

Auto-bio note”, New Delhi: Lalit Kala Contemp

40 , March 1995, p. 13), the artist experimented w

‘primitive’ system of communications, adopting an

symbology as a tool to reconnect modern Indian ar

its indigenous precursors.

Works from this later period of Swaminathan’s life,

as the present lot, make real the artist’s desire to esta

a continuum between folk, tribal and modern art

his belief that the philosophical underpinnings of I

art have a place in contemporary art practice.

deliberately unstructured manner in which Swamina

arranges his forms and symbols on the canvas ech

manner in which the same symbols were used in fol

Swaminathan’s work embodies the meaningful me

that Modernism can incorporate a visual language t

at once ancient, modern, and entirely Indian.

© Jyoti Bhatt

32

JAGDISH SWAMINAHAN (1928 - 1994)

Untitled

1990Oil on canvas32 x 46.5 in (81.3 x 118.1 cm)

Rs 40,00,000 - 50,00,000

$ 58,825 - 73,530

Also included with this lot is a copy of the book ‘Chirai ri tu kya jane’by Sitakant Mahapatra.

PROVENANCE:Centre for Contemporary Art, New DelhiPrivate Collection, Denmark

PUBLISHED:Sitakant Mahapatra, Chirai ri tu kya jane , New Delhi: NationalPublishing House, 1992 (illustrated on cover)

Sitakant Mahapatra, Chirai ri tu kya jane ,New Delhi: National Publishing House, 1992


41/97


PROPERY OF AN IMPORAN PRIVAE COLLECION, NEW D ELHI

34

GULAMMOHAMMED SHEIKH (B. 1937)

ree over Mountains

Signed, dated and inscribed ‘G. M. Sheikh ree over Mountains1970’ (on the reverse)1970

Oil on canvas36 x 23.5 in (91.3 x 60 cm)

Rs 30,00,000 - 40,00,000

$ 44,120 - 58,825

EXHIBIEDModern Masters , Bangalore: Apparao Galleries, 11-30 September 2011

PUBLISHED:Harish Meenashru, A ree With Tousand Wings , Vallabh Vidyanagar:Lajja Communications, 2008 (illustrated on cover)

33

GULAMMOHAMMED SHEIKH (B. 1937)

Untitled

Signed and dated in Gujarati (lower right)1993Charcoal and conte on paper pasted on

cloth stretched over plywood45 x 67 in (114.3 x 170.1 cm)

Rs 12,00,000 - 18,00,000

$ 17,650 - 26,475

Gulammohammed Sheikh has often used the tree as a symbol to explore po

and spiritual issues close to the artist. In Sheikh’s ree of Life , an enormous tre

sprouted from the valleys, growing ceaselessly upwards and disappearing from

frame of the canvas. In its looming shadow, snow-capped peaks and forests a

diminutive. Te verticality of the canvas lends this titular tree a monumen

that cannot be contained. Te ochre and deep green tones imbue the scene

richness and fertility that signifies and celebrates life.

34

Te painting on the cover of Aree With Tousand Wings: Poems

by Harish Meenashru.Reproduced with kind permission fromLajja Communications


42/97



36

S H RAZA (B. 1922)

Untitled

Signed and dated ‘RAZA 1981/82’ (on the reverse)1981-82Oil on canvas9.5 x 7.5 in (24 x 19 cm)

Rs 12,00,000 - 15,00,000

$ 17,650 - 22,060

PROVENANCE:Chester and Davida Herwitz CollectionAicon Gallery, New York

PROPERY OF A DISINGUISHED GENLEMAN, NEW DELHI

35

S H RAZA (B. 1922)

ree of Life

Signed and dated ‘RAZA ’92’ (lower right); signed, dated andinscribed ‘RAZA 1992 “REE OF LIFE”’ (on the reverse)1992Acrylic on canvas15.5 x 7.75 in (39.6 x 19.7 cm)

Rs 10,00,000 - 15,00,000

$ 14,710 - 22,060


43/97


38

V S GAIONDE (1924 - 2001)

UntitledSigned in Devnagari and dated ‘87’ (lower right)1987Pen and ink on paper14 x 8 in (35.4 x 20.6 cm)

Rs 18,00,000 - 24,00,000

$ 26,475 - 35,295

PROVENANCE:An Important Private Collection, New Delhi


37

M F HUSAIN (1913 - 2011)

UntitledSigned ‘Husain’ (lower right)Watercolour, oil and ink on paper12 x 11.5 in (30.3 x 29.2 cm)

Rs 18,00,000 - 22,00,000

$ 26,475 - 32,355

PROVENANCE:Acquired from a gallery in New Delhi at the Asian Conference of the Non-Aligned Countries in 1949Artcurial, Paris, 22 March 2011, lot 307


44/97


“Every painting has a seed which germinates in the next painting.

A painting is not limited to one canvas. I go on adding an element

and that’s how it evolves.” V S GAIONDE

Gaitonde at work in his studio at the Chelsea Hotel, New York, 1965

© Bruce Frisch


45/97


PROPERY FROM AN IMPORAN ASIAN PRIVAE COLLECION

39

V S GAIONDE (1924 - 2001)

Untitled

Signed and dated ‘V.S. GAIONDE 71’;signed again in Devnagari (on the reverse)1971Oil on canvas60 x 40 in (152.4 x 101.6 cm)

Rs 6,00,00,000 - 8,00,00,000

$ 882,355 - 1,176,480

PROVENANCE:Christie’s, New York, 23 March 2010, lot 59Saffronart, 19-20 June 2012, lot 38

Vasudeo Santu Gaitonde has always stood apart from

his contemporaries, whether in his personality whichdemanded isolation, or in his aesthetic vision that

increasingly exhibited a strong sense of meditative

introspection. Although he was loath to calling himself

an abstract artist and disliked being slotted into any

known genres, Gaitonde is today known as one of the

foremost Modern abstract expressionists of India. Even

when he painted figurations in his early career, he was

moving steadily towards abstraction, evident through his

works which displayed a “vividness throbbing with life.”

(Dnyaneshwar Nadkarni, Gaitonde , New Delhi: Lalit Kala

Akademi, 1983, unpaginated)

Growing up in the Girgaon area of Mumbai, Gaitonde

graduated from the J J School of Art in 1948, and was

invited to join the Bombay Progressives in the early 1950s.

In the decade that followed, Gaitonde experimented

with various forms of figurations, space and abstraction

that was “informed by traditional painting in India,

which historically consisted of mural painting, illustrated

manuscripts (on palm leaf or paper folios), and cloth

painting.” (Sandhini Poddar, “Polyphonic Modernisms

and Gaitonde’s Interiorized Worldview”, V.S. Gaitonde:Painting as Process, Painting as Life , New York: Te

Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, 2014, p. 20)

Departing almost completely from figuration, Gaitonde

began utilising a “non-objective” mode of expression.

“...Gaitonde was also working with painting itself. Te

creation of texture in an unconventional way, the use

of thick lugubrious pigment, the evocation of light and,

finally, the subtle balancing of the image on canvas as if it

were undulating on water and gradually surfacing in the

light–all these attainments of a time when the individual

canvases themselves may not be far too distinctive. Te

need to establish a meaningful relationship between line

and painted surface remains with Gaitonde for quite some

time–before his art takes the first turn towards the period

of his major achievement.” (Nadkarni, unpaginated)

Gaitonde’s canvases from the 1960s onwards displayed a

monochromatic palette, which he achieved through the

use of rollers and palette knives, instead of brushes. Te

results of this stage of experimentation–accompanied by

calligraphic strokes and hieroglyphs in ink–were by and

large an extension of his personal engagement with Zen

Buddhist philosophy. In 1964, Gaitonde was granted the

John D Rockefeller III fellowship to live and work in New

York, where he had a solo exhibition at the Willard Gallerythe following year.

A testament to Gaitonde’s meticulous process, the

present lot illustrates his precise control over the medium,

and his masterful ability to achieve a subtle balance

between earthiness and a sense of the ephemeral. Te

surface is built with subtly graded, translucent layers of

orange, rust and umber, running from a darker and more

heavily layered lower band, which anchors the image,

to its almost fluid centre, where a few intense points of

pigment have been allowed to punctuate the layers and

escape to the surface.

“Around 1968, one notices a shift from the early horizontal

canvases to the dominating format of the verticals, which

the artist continued to utilize until his last works from

1997-98.” (Poddar, p. 28) Te present lot, painted in 1971,

belongs to this vertical format phase of the artist’s career. A

similar 1970 painting, in variations of rust, forms part of Dr.

Homi Bhabha’s IFR collection of early Gaitonde works. A

precursor to the present lot, this collection “bears witness

to the next major phase in Gaitonde’s career...” (MortimerChatterjee and ara Lal, he IFR Art Collection , Mumbai:

ata Institute of Fundamental Research, 2010, p. 94)

Gaitonde achieved several accolades in his time. A year

after he created this painting, he received the Padma Shri.

Tis, in tandem with his permanent move to New Delhi,

marked a new phase of artistic growth and achievement,

cementing his position in the history of Indian art.


46/97


Tis is the only seascape that Akbar Padamsee

painted. Tis vast canvas of a stormy sea was orig

commissioned from the artist by Naval Vak

prominent lawyer in Mumbai, who was an impo

collector and patron to many Indian Modernists.

once called Padamsee to his Napean Sea Road h

and asked him to paint the sea as seen from his win

Painted in 1970, this seascape marks the beginni

a landmark decade in the artist’s career and yet re

the broad panoramic scale of his monochromatic “

Works” from the early 1960s. Padamsee capture

turbulence of the sea through variations of blue, b

and brown. Brushstrokes change direction capt

the fluidity and movement of the ocean, simul

the churning of waves. Te disquieting swatch

black and blue mirror the night sky and echo the

depths of the ocean. Tis work stands p oised betPadamsee’s exploration of nature as an “obje

phenomenon,” and his depiction of space to trans

realism and physicality, as he does in his Metas

series of the 1970s.

Art critic Geeta Kapur elaborates on the emot

content of Padamsee’spaintings. “Anything that is w

contemplating is possessed of a solitude and in


47/97


Ara’s nudes were “...massive bodies, usually

their backs to the viewer. Te folds of flesh

arouse any tenderness or even titillation. In

if anything, they create a feeling of a spre

largeness that can take over the entire pic

space.” (Yashodhara Dalmia, “Te Stillness o

Krishnaji Howlaji Ara”, he Making of M

Indian Art: he Progressives , New Delhi: O

University Press, 2001, p. 135)

PROPERY FROM AN IMPORAN PRIVAE COLLECION, NEW D ELHI

41

K H ARA (1914 - 1985)

Untitled (Nude)

Signed ‘ARA’ (lower left)Watercolour and ink on paper pasted on board29.5 x 21.5 in (74.9 x 54.6 cm)

Rs 6,00,000 - 8,00,000

$ 8,825 - 11,765

PROPERY FROM AN IMPORAN PRIVAE COLLECION,NEW DELHI

40AKBAR PADAMSEE (B. 1928)

Untitled

Signed and dated ‘PADAMSEE 70’ (upper left)1970Oil on canvas61.75 x 107.75 in (157 x 273.7 cm)

Rs 1,80,00,000 - 2,40,00,000

$ 264,710 - 352,945

Akbar’s landscapes are immensely solitary. Giorgio de

Chirico, an artist whom Akbar has always admired, speaks

of two kinds of solitude in works of art: “plastic solitude”

which is the contemplative beatitude offered to us by the

artist’s genius of construction or formal combination; and

“metaphysical solitude” in which the artist, presumably

treating space as an extended field of his unconscious,

projects signs into the infinite and invests it with

meaning.” (“Akbar Padamsee: the other side of solitude”,

Contemporary Indian Artists , New Delhi: Vikas Publishing

House Pvt. Ltd., 1978, accessed online) Padamsee’s

interpretation of the sea in the present lot offers a “plastic

solitude... an aesthetic form–a contemplative beatitude.”

(Kapur, accessed online)

Akbar with Cityscape at the Grey show, Jehangir Art Gallery, Bombay, 1960

Padamsee’s monochromatic grey works from the early 1960s echo the vastscale and monochromy of the present lot.

Image courtesy of Bhanumati Padamsee


48/97


42

M F HUSAIN (1913 - 2011)Lady

Signed in Devnagari (upper right); bearing Chemould labelon the stretcher (on the reverse)Oil on canvas55 x 33 in (139.7 x 83.8 cm)

Rs 1,00,00,000 - 1,50,00,000

$ 147,060 - 220,590

PROVENANCE:Christie’s, New York, 25 March 2004, lot 216Saffronart, 6-8 December 2005, lot 17Private Collection, UK

In the 1950s and ‘60s, M F Husain painted

a series of canvases including the present

lot, featuring a solitary woman against a

muted or monochromatic background.

In these paintings, Husain’s “…women

are monumental in their fortitude and

yet humble and ordinary in a duality

that Husain expresses effortlessly…”

(Yashodhara Dalmia, he Making of

Modern Indian Art: he Progressives ,

New Delhi: Oxford University Press,

2001, p. 101)

Te female figure has persisted as one

of the leitmotifs in Husain’s body of

work since his earliest experiments with

paint. Reflecting his upbringing and

early experiences of loss, these figures,including the one in the present lot are

“…enshrouded in an invisible veil, the

simplicity of their form countered by

their inaccessibility…Tey could well

be women from his own childhood in a

Muslim household, where the feminine

presence alternates between the

secretive and the visible. Te suppressed

yearning could be for his mother, who

died when he was only two years old,

leaving him feeling permanently bereft.”

(Dalmia, p. 111).


49/97


43

Anjolie Ela Menon is one of India's foremost women

Modernists. In the present lot, Menon uses the window

frame to allude literally to the act of watching. Te woman

enclosed within the window is both the observer and

the observed. Menon began exploring the possibilities

of form and composition using windows in the 1970s.

Tis prompted her to search for old windows and doors

in Mumbai's Lakkar Bazaar, where she collected ornate

windows that once belonged in Parsi mansions. She

integrates the wooden frames into her work such that

the painting is contained and defined by it. Te curtains

in the present lot are painted to fit exactly into the frame,

as the subject stands gazing calmly through it.


43

ANJOLIE ELA MENON (B. 1940)Untitled

Signed ‘Anjolie Ela Menon’ (lower right)Oil on masonite board35.75 x 20.25 in (91.1 x 51.7 cm)

Rs 12,00,000 - 15,00,000

$ 17,650 - 22,060

Te frame is part of the artwork


44

BADRI NAR AYAN (1929 - 2013)Te Magician

Initialed in Devnagari (lower right); inscribed ‘”Te Magicby Badri Narayan’ and dated ‘5th June, 1986’ (on the rever1986Watercolour on paper21.25 x 21.25 in (53.7 x 53.7 cm)

Rs 6,00,000 - 8,00,000

$ 8,825 - 11,765

44


50/97


45

M F HUSAIN (1913 - 2011)

Untitled

Signed ‘Husain’ (lower right)Oil on canvas36 x 48 in (91.4 x 121.9 cm)

Rs 80,00,000 - 1,00,00,000

$ 117,650 - 147,060

PROVENANCE:Gifted by the artist to the previous owner, Mumbai, 1983Private Collection, New Delhi

Husain was exposed to music from an early age, h

spent his childhood in Indore, an important cu

centre for Indian classical music. He painted works

as the present lot which are imbued with the so

of different ragas in classical music. His love for m

inspired him to create his well-known series of Raga

paintings in the 1960s.

Husain believed that true art is a combination o

the art forms. “It would be incorrect to treat the

paintings of musicians and dancers: not only are

not representational but Husain’s purpose in pai

them was clearly to render the spirit of those ar

visual images. Tis approach accords with the I

belief in the interdependence of art forms.” (Ric

Bartholomew and Shiv S Kapur, Husain , New York:

N Abrams, Inc., 1971, p. 42)


51/97


Te present lot, titled Germination, shares t

an important series of paintings done by

he explores the idea of birth and growth

is the process of a seed growing into a plan

is discussed in theological texts and teach

of Hindu and Christian origins, which Raza

himself in after marrying Janine Mongillat

to the rural town of Gorbio in the sou

“Every morning Raza would stop by the a

in this village, spending ten to fifteen min

meditation; a process akin to emptying the

Sen, Bindu: Space and ime in Raza’s Visio

Media ransasia Ltd., 1997, p. 113) Raza’s si

is present as a representation of both t

which nature is created, as well as the em

human life is begun. Tis duality unites th

of man with nature and the bindu now bec

with emotion and vitality, where birth and

of life are emphasised.

“A painting grows gradua

organically. Te bija, the seed

the beginning of human life. T

miniscule point which is ene

condensed can grow from

embryonic form – to give bi

to a whole series of paintings. S H RAZA

© S H Raza


52/97


PROPERY FROM HE COLLECION OF AN IMPORAN

FAMILY, NEW DELHI

46

S H RAZA (B. 1922)

Germination

Signed and dated ‘RAZA 87’ (lower right); signed and dated

again ‘RAZA 1987’ and inscribed ‘“GERMINAION” RAZA’(on the reverse)1987Acrylic on canvas39.25 x 39.25 in (100 x 100 cm)

Rs 2,50,00,000 - 3,50,00,000

$ 367,650 - 514,710

EXHIBIED:Modern Art , Mumbai: Te Arts rust, 2010

Surrounding the bindu are triangles framed within a horiz

plane which focuses attention to the centre of the pai

to create a horizon line, comprised of shades of brow

represent the earth. Underneath the bindu are a seri

inverted triangles which symbolise prakriti , or the fe

kinetic energy moving down towards the bottom o

painting. Tis suggests the process of germination in bot

seed and the embryo. Within the backdrop of the pai

there are other triangles which represent the purush o

male energy. When combined with the prakriti these fiprovide the fertilization of the embryo or Bindu, leadin

germination.

Tis painting was created in 1987, during a period in Raza

when he was drawn to his homeland and visited India

frequently. Te dominant earth tones of black and b

are reminiscent of the forested village of Kakaiya, from R

childhood and reveal his bond to his roots.


53/97


PROPERY FROM HE COLLECION OF A DISINGUISHED FAMILY, NEW DELHI

47

S H RAZA (B. 1922)

riangles

Signed and dated ‘RAZA ‘2000’ (lower centre); signed and dated again‘RAZA 2000’ and inscribed ‘riangles’ (on the reverse)2000Acrylic on canvas39.25 x 39.25 in (100 x 100 cm)

Rs 1,20,00,000 - 1,50,00,000

$ 176,475 - 220,590

PROVENANCE:Acquired directly from the artist

riangles , composed of a sea of warm triangles

of varying transparencies is among Raza’s most

successful experimentations with shape and

colour. Over one hundred triangles are enclosed

within a bright red border. Almost all the triangles

pointing down are in colours that have been

painted over in black while the triangles pointing

up are comprised of Raza’s signature warm

colours. Tis creates a dichotomy present in much

of Raza’s work from the period, where structures

move both out and in. Te darker triangles directthe viewer’s eye down the painting while the

brighter triangles move the eye up, creating a

timeless meditative space where inner and outer

worlds converge. It is this juxtaposition of cubist

formalities and transparencies of colour which

give the painting a comprehensive sense of depth.

As in most of Raza’s work from this period, his

signature Bindu is present within the geometric

structure of his triangles.

Te present lot, painted in 2000, was created

almost exactly twenty years after Raza abandoned

gestural abstraction for a more spiritual art created

through formal abstractions which emulate

nature. It was also during this time that Raza began

to look towards Indian theology and spirituality to

embed more significant meaning in his work. Raza

manipulates the formal elements of art to place

the viewer in a space which is orchestrated by the

intensity of his vision of Nature. “Raza’s continuing

concern has been with Nature: with the elements

of nature which govern time and space and infuse

order into the universe. o express this concept,

he resorts to the principals which govern pictorial

language and which, in their turn, infuse order into

the canvas. Te vocabulary of the point, line, and

diagonal, of the square, circle, and triangle become

the essential components of his work.” (Geeti Sen,

Bindu: Space and ime in Raza’s Vision , New Delhi:

Media ransasia Ltd., 1997, p. 137)


54/97


48

F N SOUZA (1924 - 2002)

Mutation

Signed and dated ‘Souza 68’ (upper left); inscribed ‘F. N.SOUZA MUAION’ (on the reverse)1968Oil on board48 x 36 in (122 x 91.3 cm)

Rs 70,00,000 - 90,00,000

$ 102,945 - 132,355

PROVENANCE:Estate of F N SouzaPrivate Collection, North India

EXHIBIED:Picasso Souza, New Delhi: Grosvenor Vadehra at Vadehra Art Gallery,17 December 2011 - 14 January 2012

PUBLISHED:

Aveek Sen, A Critic’s Eye , New Delhi: Photoink and Sepia International;Mumbai: Chatterjee & Lal, 2009 (illustrated)

“It is in depicting heads that Souza introduced his most

inventive features that bring to the fore his whole painterly

arsenal. His use of colour is conventional with thick, rigid

strokes of paint squeezed straight from the tube on to

the canvas. Teir burnished quality is reminiscent of the

old masters, its expressive content not fully exploited and

not in cohesion with the radical quality of the subject.”

(Yashodhara Dalmia, “A Passion for the Human Figure”,

he Making of Modern Indian Art , New Delhi: Oxford

University Press, 2001, p. 93)

Souza’s heads and human forms first appeared in the

late 1940s, undergoing gradual transformations over

time – from the cross-hatching technique that became

the hallmark of his early works, to loops, whorls and

squiggles delineating the distorted visages of his subjects.

Souza was inventive in his figurations; the iconic line of

his rigid heads, reminiscent of Romanesque art, gave way

to tubular forms, as seen in the present lot. Te circularspots scattered on the head and around it, resembling

pockmarks, had begun to appear in some of his works

during the 1960s. Te alien-like tentacles extending from

the face would become a more prominent feature as he

continued to experiment, well into the 1980s.

49

F N SOUZA (1924 - 2002)

Untitled

Signed and dated ‘Souza 96’ (upper left)1996Acrylic on board22.75 x 17.75 in (58.1 x 45.3 cm)

Rs 8,00,000 - 10,00,000

$ 11,765 - 14,710

PROVENANCE:Private Collection, North India

48


55/97


Bawa’s work which explores the complex, non-verbal

relationship between man and animal has evolved with

subtlety over the decades. In the 1970s, his paintings “...

present man as a brute – a conqueror with sword and

shield... Over time, Bawa paints the two in harmony,

coming together as if in a trance, the focus on their

interlocking bodies.” (Amrita Jhaveri, A Guide to 101

Modern & Contemporary Indian Artists , Mumbai: India

Book House Pvt. Ltd., 2005, p. 16) Te present lot achieves

a subtle balance between man as conqueror of, and man

in harmony with, an animal.

“Te interaction between man and beast forms a vital

undercurrent in all [of] Bawa’s paintings. It is significant

that the meditational form in his canvas could be an

animal, as much as it could be a human form or deity.”

(Geeti Sen quoted in Ina Puri, Let’s Paint the Sky Red:

Manjit Bawa , New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery exhibitioncatalogue, 2011, p. 77)

Te present lot presents a lyrical composition of the

man and the dog, a harmony in the way both leap

forward. Both are modelled in a similar fashion that

makes them seem rubbery and boneless. Te dog’s rear

limb, for example, forms a single closed shape with his

tail, suggesting the fantastical. Commenting on Bawa’s

technique, Krishen Khanna says: “Te balloon-like shapes

found an easy transition into his human, animal and

plant shapes. He was making a philosophical assertion

in addition to the aesthetic which naturally followed. He

was implying that the same force inhabits all creation.”

(Puri, p. 101)

Bawa trained at the College of Art in Delhi, following

which he studied silkscreen printing in London. Te

technique he arrived at draws from two distinct

traditions: Pahari miniature painting, whose vocabulary

consisted of a fixed set of images, and silkscreen printing,

made up of smooth and flat colours. His figures, though

supple, rubbery and shaded with soft gradations that

stem from his training in silkscreen painting, possess the

gracefulness of those seen in miniature painting. Tis

grace carries forward in works such as the present lot,

and is used by the artist to suggest layers of hidden intent

in the actions of his figures.


56/97


51

MANJI BAWA (1941 - 2008)

Untitled

Signed and dated ‘Manjit 95’ (lower right); signed again‘Manjit’ and signed in Devnagari (on the reverse)1995Oil on canvas21.5 x 19.25 in (54.5 x 48.8 cm)

Rs 30,00,000 - 40,00,000

$ 44,120 - 58,825

50

MANJI BAWA (1941 - 2008)

UntitledSigned and dated ‘Manjit Bawa 93’ (on the reverse)1993Oil on canvas45.75 x 53 in (116.5 x 134.5 cm)

Rs 1,75,00,000 - 2,25,00,000

$ 257,355 - 330,885

PROVENANCE:Private Collection, Mumbai


57/97


Tis rare, early work by yeb Mehta is one of the

gestural expressionist paintings he made befor

trip to America in 1968 on a Rockefeller Found

Fellowship, where he embarked on his investig

into colour field painting. Composed of brown

red hues, the seated figures would blend into the

background, were it not for the animated gestur

the man on the left. His face, with its expressive fea

is the focal point of the canvas. In 1966, Mehta m

a series of drawings for Ebrahim Alkazi’s adaptatio

Euripides’ Te rojan Women (see reference im

and it is likely that the present lot stems from Me

interactions with the director at the National Sc

of Drama in New Delhi. Te sombre tones and dr

robes are similar to those used in the play. A solo

at the Kumar Gallery in New Delhi in 1966 highlig

similar works from that period, demonstrating a s

preoccupation with the subject.


58/97


53

YEB MEHA (B. 1925)

Head

Signed and dated ‘yeb 89’ (lower left); bearingVadehra Art Gallery label on the frame (on the reverse)1989Pencil on paper9.75 x 6.75 in (24.7 x 17.3 cm)

Rs 18,00,000 - 22,00,000

$ 26,475 - 32,355

PROVENANCE:Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi

EXHIBIED:Yashodhara Dalmia, yeb Mehta: riumph of Vision ,New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery,15 January - 18 February 2011

Reproduced from the newly released book Parul Dave-Mukherji ed., Ebrahim Alkazi Directing Art: Te Making of a ModernIndian Art World , Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 2016, pp. 56-57.

PROPERY OF A GENLEMAN, NEW DELHI

52

YEB MEHA (B. 1925)

Untitled1966Oil on canvas48.5 x 58 in (123.5 x 147.5 cm)

Rs 4,00,00,000 - 5,00,00,000

$ 588,240 - 735,295

PUBLISHED:Hoskote, Gandhi et al., yeb Mehta: Ideas Images Exchanges ,New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 2005, p. 77 (illustrated)

Mehta was known to be a contemplative artist who

mused over his paintings for extended periods of time

before completing them. Making only a few paintings

a year, Mehta’s art always holds something thought

provoking. “Proceeding by an archaeology of motive

and decision, we may infer that he started with images

that had haunted him, burning themselves deep into his

mental circuitry. We may infer, also, that these obsessional

images, autobiographical in import, gradually gained

in significance as yeb externalised them, reflected on

them, and allowed them to shimmer against the wider

canvas of society.” (Hoskote, Gandhi et al., Ideas Images

Exchanges , New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 2005, p. 14)

Te present lot already contains the juxtaposition of

emotional intensity and calm fragility which defines the

tension in his later works.


59/97


PROPERY FROM HE COLLECION OF AN

IMPORAN FAMILY, NEW DELHI

54

GANESH PYNE (1937 - 2013)

Te Bones

Signed and dated in Bengali (lower right);signed, dated in Bengali and inscribed‘’HE BONES’ GANESH PYNE’ on a label,and bearing a Vadehra Art Gallery label(on the reverse)2006empera on canvas22.5 x 21.75 in (57 x 55 cm)

Rs 30,00,000 - 35,00,000

$ 44,120 - 51,475

EXHIBIED: A ribute to Ganesh Pyne , New Delhi: VadehraArt Gallery, 13-30 March 2013

Ganesh Pyne is “...a creator of atmospheres... When he painted through the

night in his room in his shadow-webbed ancestral house during the 1970s

and 1980s, his works would take on the aura of the night, come alive with

nocturnal moods and forms.” (Ranjit Hoskote, Ganesh Pyne: A Pilgrim in

the Dominion of Shadows , Kolkata: Gallerie 88 exhibition catalogue, 2005,

p. 16) Painted in 2006, the soft glow of the candle illuminating a pitch dark

room highlights Pyne’s mastery over colour and technique to evoke light

and shadow.

“Pyne’s ‘signature’ style is shaped by his own experiences of solitude and

alienation that he had lived through and aided by the pain and horror he

had witnessed in the city of Calcutta during the sixties of the last century.

What surfaced in his art however appear as mysteriously enriched with

moods of tenderness and calm serenity, rich with visual depth in which

every single stroke appear charged with muted eloquence.” (Arun Ghose,

Jottings as Paintings of Ganesh Pyne , Agra: Sanchit Art Gallery, 2014, p. 2)


60/97


55

BIKASH BHAACHARJEE (1940 - 2006)

Untitled (In his Office)

1975Conte with a thick lacquer coating on paper pasted onplywood35.5 x 29.25 in (90 x 74.6 cm)

Rs 30,00,000 - 40,00,000

$ 44,120 - 58,825

PROVENANCE:Private Collection, New Delhi

PUBLISHED:Manasij Majumder,Close to Events: Works of Bikash Bhattacharjee ,New Delhi: Niyogi Offset Pvt. Ltd., 2007, pp. 102, 243 (illustrated)

“In the Indian art scenario from the 1960s onwards, the

name Bikash Bhattacharjee stands for a vast body of work

marked by three unmistakable features – vivid, almost

photographic realism, human figure as the central motif

and a strong-veined content.” (Manasij Majumder, “Tink

of the Subject First”, Close to Events: Works of Bikash

Bhattacharjee , New Delhi: Niyogi Offset Pvt. Ltd., 2007, p.

96) In the present lot, Bikash subverts the central motif by

showing a monkey head suspended from a string. Such

works reflected “his private perceptions of the realities of

life, which in the ‘60s were marked by bitter irony, strident

protest and resentment.” (Majumder, p. 118)

Bhattacharjee follows a unique painting process. “I try to

achieve volume in my paintings by a process that I think

is not too common in this country. Most of the Indian

artists who use oil as their medium lay on their colours

direct... I prefer to lay on dark colours first and then build

up the lights and highlights. Tis process has helped meto give dimension to my pictures, to say what I want to,

and also to give the canvas the textures and the character

that I desire.” (Te artist in an interview with Arany

Banerjee, “Bikash Bhattacharjee,” Lalit Kala Contemporary

15 , New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi, 1973, p. 18)


61/97


PROPERY FROM HE COLLECION OF AN EMINEN FAMILY, MUMBAI

57

BIKASH BHAACHARJEE (1940 - 2006)Untitled

Signed and dated ‘Bikash 92’ (lower right); inscribed ‘”AND ALAKENDU”BY BIKASH BHAACHARJEE 1992’ (on the reverse)1992Oil on canvas41.75 x 36 in (106 x 91.2 cm)

Rs 30,00,000 - 40,00,000

$ 44,120 - 58,825

56

SOMNAH HORE (1921 - 2006)Untitled

Initialed ‘S’ (lower right); signed and dated‘Somenath Hore ‘60’ (on the reverse)1960Paper collage on paper10.5 x 14.25 in (26.4 x 36.5 cm)

Rs 3,00,000 - 5,00,000

$ 4,415 - 7,355


62/97


59

SAKI BURMAN (B. 1935)

Untitled

Signed ‘SAKI BURMAN’ (lower left)Watercolour on paper19 x 24.75 in (48 x 63 cm)

Rs 2,00,000 - 3,00,000

$ 2,945 - 4,415

58

K LAXMA GOUD (B. 1940)

Untitled

Signed in elugu (lower right)Acrylic and marker on glass29.5 x 21.5 in (74.7 x 54.5 cm)

Rs 5,00,000 - 7,00,000

$ 7,355 - 10,295


63/97


PROPERY FROM AN IMPORAN PRIVAE COLLECION, MUMBAI

60

KRISHEN KHANNA (B. 1925)

Pieta

Signed ‘K Khanna’ (lower right); signed again ‘K Khanna’ andinscribed ‘KRISHEN KHANNA “PIEA”’ (on the reverse)Oil on canvas71.5 x 51.5 in (181.6 x 131 cm)

Rs 70,00,000 - 90,00,000

$ 102,945 - 132,355

EXHIBIED:Krishen Khanna , London: Royal Academy of Art, 19-24 March 2007Krishen Khanna: A Retrospective , New Delhi: Rabindra Bhavan, Lalit KalaAkademi, 23 January - 5 February 2010

PUBLISHED:Khanna, Lynton, et al., Contemporary Indian Artists Series - KrishenKhanna: Images In My ime , Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd.,2007, p. 131 (illustrated)

Krishen Khanna: A Retrospective , Saffronart exhibition catalogue, 2010(illustrated) Krishen Khanna’s Pieta is his distinct interpretation

of an iconic image from Christianity, which has been

portrayed by artists all over the world for centuries.

Te seated Mother Mary cradling the exhausted

Christ after his descent from the cross is an image

Khanna returns to several times during his career.

“Te Pieta paintings relate to his concern with the

subject of the dead and the dying, as much as with

the persecuted figure of the Christ ... Te Pieta is

among the few maternal figures in Khanna’s oeuvre,

and his interpretation of the figure varies in its palette,

as well as the reworking of the pyramidal structure.”

(Gayatri Sinha, Krishen Khanna: he Embrace of Love ,

Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., 2005, p. 25)

Mary’s hand to the head is a quintessentially Indian

gesture of grief and desperation. It contrasts with the

stoic Mary in western interpretations. Te stark cross

in the background adds to the gravitas of the scene.

Khanna’s enduring interest in religious symbolism,

particularly Christian imagery, is rooted in a childhood

of summers spent at a vicarage in war-torn England,

and developed by a print of Leonardo da Vinci’s he

Last Supper , given to him by his father. During the

late 1960s, Khanna worked on a series of paintings

of Christ, from he Last Supper , to Christ’s Descent

from the Cross. “Khanna’s engagement with biblical

allegory and Hindu myth has served as his instrument

of engagement during troubled periods in Indian

polity.” (Sinha, p. 17)Michelangelo'sPietà in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

Image courtesy of Stanislav raykov, Niabot (cut out), via Wikimedia Commons


64/97


62

61

RAM KUMAR (B. 1924)

Untitled

Signed in Devnagari and dated ‘76’ (lower centre)1976Acrylic and ink on paper8 x 6.5 in (20.3 x 16.5 cm)

Rs 6,00,000 - 8,00,000

$ 8,825 - 11,765

62

RAM KUMAR (B. 1924)

Untitled

Signed in Devnagari and dated ‘71’ (lower right); bearingPundole Art Gallery label on the stretcher (on the reverse)1971Oil on canvas55 x 33 in (139.7 x 83.8 cm)

Rs 40,00,000 - 50,00,000

$ 58,825 - 73,530

PROVENANCE:Pundole Art Gallery, MumbaiPrivate Collection, MalaysiaPrivate Collection, UK


65/97


63

S H RAZA (B. 1922)

Paysage Nocturne

Signed and dated ‘RAZA ‘60’ (lower right); signed, dated andinscribed ‘RAZA “Paysage Nocturne” P.288 ‘60’ (on the reverse)1960Oil on canvas16.25 x 13 in (41 x 33 cm)

Rs 25,00,000 - 30,00,000

$ 36,765 - 44,120

PROVENANCE:Private Collection, FrancePrivate Collection, India


66/97


64

M F HUSAI

Documents

Feb Auc 16 Catalogue