ALIVE: EVENING SALE OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART (17 SEPTEMBER 2020)

18 PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the artist
M F HUSAIN (1913‒2011) Private Collection, Mumbai

Untitled PUBLISHED
K Bikram Singh, Maqbool Fida Husain, New Delhi: Rahul &
Signed ‘Husain’ (upper left) Art, 2008, p. 117 (illustrated)
Acrylic on canvas
35 x 29.5 in (89.2 x 74.9 cm)

Rs 50,00,000 ‒ 70,00,000
$67,570 ‒ 94,595

51





“...The Mahabharata discloses a rich civilisation and
highly evolved society which, though of an older world,
strangely resembles the India of our time...”  M F HUSAIN

In the late 1960s, motivated by a desire to rediscover his Indian roots, Husain began painting works
based on the Ramayana. This was followed by the Mahabharata series—the first of which he painted
as a suite of 27 works when he was invited to participate in the São Paulo Biennial in 1971—which
continued to be a thematic preoccupation in the decades to follow. The present lot, painted in 2002, is
an important work in this series and depicts several characters and iconic scenes from the epic.

The conception of the Mahabharata, a founding text in Sanskrit literature and mythology, is attributed
to the sage Vyasa. He is believed to have narrated the story to the Hindu god Ganesha, who scribed it
as it was dictated. Husain depicts this co‒authorship at the centre of the composition of the present
lot, and includes pointed details such as the quill in Ganesha’s hands and the mudra adopted by Vyasa.

The central theme of the Mahabharata details the many years of conflict between two warring clans,
the Pandavas (the protagonists) and the Kauravas (the antagonists), and their struggle for territorial
possession of Madhyadesa (North India) resolved through the famous battle of Kurukshetra.
Its ultimate thematic sentiment of right versus wrong—influenced by the many complexities of
morality, duty, power and fate—is one that has impacted the Hindu Indian psyche on a social and
anthropological level. “Husain's concept is intensely poetic: with a stroke of genius, the entire mythic
world which has enriched the minds of the common people is brought vividly alive. Past and present,
myth and reality are shown to exist simultaneously in the Indian imagination.” (E Alkazi, M F Husain:
The Modern Artist & Tradition, New Delhi: Art Heritage, 1978, p. 17)

On the lower left of the composition, Husain depicts Gandhari, the wife of the blind king Dhritarashtra,
and the mother of the Kauravas. Although considered an act of devotion to her husband, Gandhari’s
blindfolding of herself can be symbolically seen as turning a blind eye to the actions of her sons and
the events that lead to the battle between the two clans. Husain also depicts key scenes from the
Kurukshetra battle, including a circular disk and galloping horses, likely indicative of Krishna and his role
in the war; the final moments of Bhishma Pitamah, the supreme commander of the Kauravas, on a bed
of arrows; silhouetted figures in combat; Arjuna with his bow, and the moment when Karna is struck
down by his arrow as the latter steps down to dislodge his chariot wheel from the mud.

Throughout his career, Husain was preoccupied with pictorially engaging ancient Indian epics and to
make them “speak again in the light of recent Indian history and contemporary Indian geo‒political
life. Specifically, he is convinced that themes of fate and of power one finds in the Mahabharata and
Ramayana are universally true of the modern world and can be re‒enacted on the modern Indian
canvas.” (Dr Daniel Herwitz, Husain, Bombay: Tata Steel, 1988, p. 22) In contemporising this myth,
Husain focuses on the psychological component of the Mahabharata, and the metaphor it represents
about the internal moral struggles within an individual self. He explores this concept by quoting
Gandhi: “I regard Duryodhana and his party as the baser impulses in man, and Arjuna and his party
as the higher impulses. The field of battle is our own body. An eternal battle is going on between two
camps and the poet seer has vividly described it.” (Quoted in Herwitz, p. 25)

54

PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN, AHMEDABAD
19

M F HUSAIN (1913‒2011)

Untitled (Mahabharat)
Signed and dated ‘Husain/ 002’ (lower right)
2002
Acrylic on paper
34 x 60.75 in (86.5 x 154.5 cm)
Rs 45,00,000 ‒ 55,00,000
$60,815 ‒ 74,325
PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the artist

The artist painting the present lot
Image courtesy of the present owner

55



M F Husain is perhaps among India’s most prolific modern
artists whose unique visual idiom left an indelible mark
on the history of Indian art. A largely self‒taught artist,
he began his career painting cinema billboards and
then making toys, before joining the Progressive Artists’
Group in 1947. During this formative period, right after
Independence, Husain travelled extensively, assimilating
the techniques, colours and styles of Jain and Basohli
painting, the sensuous forms of Mathura sculpture, and
the energy and fluid lines of Chinese calligraphy. His
encounter with the works of European modern masters
including Klee, Picasso, Matisse and Modigliani helped
him hone his own intuitions and perceptions regarding
colour, form, line and symbolism. These various stylistic
influences, combined with his own rootedness in India, led
him to invent a new aesthetic vocabulary of modernity.
“And in doing so, he was to become a legend in his
lifetime, a man who delivers the common man from the
ordinariness of his existence to the international arena.”
(Yashodhara Dalmia, “A Metaphor for Modernity,” The
Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, Oxford
University Press, New Delhi, 2001, p. 101)

Husain’s paintings of horses are arguably among the best
known in his oeuvre. He first began painting this subject
in the 1950s and revisited the leitmotif—representative
of power, passion and freedom—throughout his artistic
career. His preoccupation with this subject developed
from a wide range of encounters with the animal during
early childhood experiences in Indore, where he saw
horses drawing tongas or in Muharram processions.
Later, his study of horses from the Chinese Sung dynasty,
the terracotta folk traditions of Bankura and cave art,
and the work of Western artists such as Franz Marc and
Mario Marini added nuance to his precise lines and the
portrayal of complex emotions. Husain incorporates
these influences seamlessly to create paintings in
his own inimitable style. His horses are archetypes
and “... subterranean creatures. Their nature is not
intellectualised: it is rendered as sensation or as abstract
movement, with a capacity to stir up vague premonitions
and passions, in a mixture of ritualistic fear and exultant
anguish.” (Richard Bartholomew and Shiv S Kapur,
Husain, New York: Harry N Abrams, Inc., 1971, p. 43)

57

“Suddenly, a black horse noticed me.
He paused, turned back and said to me,
Go forth and see the world”.
Indeed it is true.
Seeing the world is to understand one’s own existence.
Husain knows this well.
Hence he never stays at one place for long.”

 M F HUSAIN

Husain’s masterful capacity in capturing the moods and nuances of these creatures endows them with new forms,
meanings and resonances that transcend realism or prosaic associations. “The horses are rampant or galloping; the
manes, the fury, the working buttocks, the prancing legs, and the strong neighing heads with dilated nostrils are
blocks of colour which are vivid or tactile or are propelled in their significant progression by strokes of the brush or
sweeps of the palette knife. The activity depicted is transformed in the activity of paint… When we look at these
creatures we must remember that the animal is not the subject of Husain’s painting; it is the daemonic principle that
he depicts, and to him it is neither good nor bad… the horses… have become symbols of power and pursuit, or of
mysterious encounters.” (Bartholomew and Kapur, p. 20)
The present lot depicts two majestic horses in shades of white and grey galloping against a lush green field‒like
background. The horses are rendered in strong lines which break the surface, giving them “the feel of armour,” a
technique Husain borrows from Chinese painting traditions. The present lot exemplifies Husain's ability to harness
the vigour and elegance of horses through a masterful use of line and colour. Light and shadow add another dimension
to the bucking and rearing horses whose frenzied energy is barely contained within the painting. “Husain's painted
horses do not just bear majestic stateliness and striking beauty but also come alive in every mood, situation and
form. Their forceful movement conveys so much that it carries us away with it.” (Rashda Siddiqui, In Conversation
with Husain Paintings, New Delhi: Books Today, 2001, p. 112)
The present lot represents “some of his finest work and demonstrate[s] the power of his draftsmanship, his deep
understanding of the myths associated with the horse in the multi‒faceted Indian artistic and cultural tradition and
his talent to invest them with a new contemporary meaning.” (K Bikram Singh, Maqbool Fida Husain, New Delhi:
Rahul & Art, 2008, p. 192)

58

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT
PRIVATE COLLECTION, NEW DELHI

20

M F HUSAIN (1913‒2011)

Untitled

Signed in Devnagari (upper left)
Oil on canvas
25 x 49 in (63.8 x 124.7 cm)

Rs 1,50,00,000 ‒ 2,00,00,000
$202,705 ‒ 270,275

PROVENANCE
Acquried from Dhoomimal Art Gallery, New Delhi, circa 1960s

Untitled, 1970 Untitled Three Horses, 1964
Saffronart, 28‒29 March 2012, lot 24 Saffronart, New Delhi, 21 September 2017, lot 31 Saffronart, 6‒7 June 2007, lot 2
Sold for Rs 2.61 crores ($534,541) Sold for Rs 2.16 crores ($342,857) Sold for Rs 2.07 crores ($517,500)

59

As you grow, you realise the need The present lot is a portrait of a
to minimalise and weed out the young boy, mostly likely Manjit Bawa’s
unnecessary. Focus becomes all son, and is painted in keeping with
important."  MANJIT BAWA the artist’s minimalistic style. Bawa
deliberately stayed away from artistic
movements, choosing instead to
develop a style distinctly his own.
Known for his sensitive and striking
paintings – often featuring animals,
people and mythological figures – the
artist typically depicts precise, floating
characters on flat colour backgrounds.
In the essay “Dogs Too Keep Night
Watch,” artist Jagdish Swaminathan
writes that “...Manjit’s figure is at once an
assertion of a tradition and its negation.
It hardly owes anything to the realism
of the West and its expressionistic
aftermath… There is a certain
bonelessness, a pneumatic quality to
Manjit’s figure which echoes both folk
Pahari painting and the tantric frescoes
of Himalayan Buddhism.” (Reproduced
from S Kalidas, Bhavna Bawa, Madan
Gopal Singh et al, Let’s Paint the Sky Red:
Manjit Bawa, New Delhi: Vadehra Art
Gallery, 2011, p. 36)

Bawa’s portraits and portrayal of
humans and animals together often
seem intimate, highlighting his lifelong
interest in asymmetrical relationships
and non‒verbal communication. In
interacting with his son, Bawa has
explained that he often contemplated
the ideal of a shared universal language
through which all sentient beings could
express themselves and share their
experiences of the world with each
other. His paintings are an attempt at
this visual vocabulary, with characters
who are often removed from space,
time and context as they gaze into
the distance, lost in thought or
wonderment.

21 Untitled
Saffronart, 6‒7 December 2006, lot 134
MANJIT BAWA (1941‒2008) Sold for Rs 11.7 lakhs ($27,232)

Untitled

Signed and dated ‘Manjit 95’ (lower right); signed
‘Manjit’ and signed again in Gurmukhi (on the reverse)
1995
Oil on canvas
21.5 x 19.25 in (54.7 x 49.2 cm)

Rs 60,00,000 ‒ 80,00,000
$81,085 ‒ 108,110

PROVENANCE
Saffronart, Mumbai, 24 February 2016, lot 51
A Distinguished Private Collection, New Delhi

61

PROPERTY OF A LADY, MUMBAI
22

S H RAZA (1922‒2016)

Bindu and Tree
Signed and dated ‘RAZA 06’ (lower left); signed twice, dated
and inscribed ‘RAZA/ 2006/ ‘’Bindu & Tree’’’ (upper centre)
2006
Acrylic on canvas
31 x 15.25 in (78.7 x 38.8 cm)
Rs 25,00,000 ‒ 35,00,000
$33,785 ‒ 47,300
PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the artist

“My work is my own inner experience and involvement with the
mysteries of nature and form which is expressed in colour, line,
space and light."  S H RAZA

S H Raza began to explore the potential of geometric forms in the late 1970s, and this preoccupation with lines, shapes
and colours pervaded his oeuvre ever since. The black circle or bindu is a metaphor for the origin of all life in Indian
philosophy, and is also indicative of shunya or a void – similar to that from which the universe was created. Ranging from
a concentrated point to a large black orb in Raza’s paintings, it has come to symbolise “...the seed, bearing the potential of
all life, in a sense. It is also a visible form containing all the essential requisites of line, tone, colour, texture and space. The
black space is charged with latent forces aspiring for fulfillment.” (Geeti Sen, Bindu: Space and Time in Raza’s Vision, New
Delhi: Media Transasia India Ltd, p. 134) The artist’s use of bright primary colours is derived from the Indian concept of
panchatatva, representing the five constituent elements of nature – earth, sky, air, fire and water.

62

63

© S H Raza

23

S H RAZA (1922‒2016)

ERC
Signed and dated ‘RAZA ‘70’ (lower right);
signed, dated and inscribed ‘RAZA/ P‒833
‘70/ “ERC”’ (on the reverse)
1970
Oil on canvas
39.25 x 19.75 in (100 x 50 cm)
Rs 80,00,000 ‒ 1,20,00,000
$108,110 ‒ 162,165
PROVENANCE
Cornette de Saint Cyr, Paris,
21 December 2009, lot 40
Private Collection, USA
From an Important Private Collection,
New Delhi
PUBLISHED
Anne Macklin, S H Raza: Catalogue Raisonné,
1958 ‒ 1971 (Volume I), New Delhi: Vadehra Art
Gallery and The Raza Foundation, 2016, p. 191
(illustrated)

65



The present lot was created during a period when Raza’s work was undergoing a stylistic and emotional
transformation. The role of memory and his early experiences in India now began to increasingly appear in his work.
"From the 1960s and early 70s, when he was nearing fifty, Raza's works are impregnated with a sense of double
identity... His gestural treatment inducts the layering of raw emotions, expressed through colours and through
images which seem ephemeral – as fleeting emanations of forms resurrected from the past. Memory plays a strange
and fascinating role, in that it feeds on images of the past and intensifies the experience for us ‒ all the more so if
we are separated by time and place." (Geeti Sen, Bindu: Space and Time in Raza's Vision, New Delhi: Media Transasia
India Limited, 1997, pp. 87‒88)

Consequently, the abstract, expressionistic style of the previous decade metamorphosed, retaining the fluid
brushstrokes but comprising a certain structure of form and space. Raza would travel to India more frequently in
this decade, ushering in a period of self‒reflexivity and a deeper engagement with forms, colours and philosophies
rooted in his home country. This shift "...re‒sensitized his perceptiveness for a final supreme and universal viewing
of nature, not as appearance, not as spectacle but as an integrated force of life and cosmic growth reflected in every
fibre of a human being... Nature became to Raza something not to be observed or to be imagined but something to
be experienced in the very act of putting paint on canvas." (Rudolf von Leyden, "Metamorphosis," Raza, Mumbai:
Chemould Publications and Arts, 1985) 

The present lot features a predominantly dark palette, with flashes of green and earth tones, possibly reminiscent of
Raza’s childhood memories spent in the dense forests of Madhya Pradesh, and the fear and fascination associated
with them. “Nights in the forests were hallucinating... Daybreak brought back a sentiment of security and well‒being...
Even today I find that these two aspects of my life dominate me and are an integral part of my paintings.” (Artist
quoted in Ashok Vajpeyi ed., A Life in Art: S H Raza, New Delhi: Art Alive Gallery, 2007, p. 197) The brushstrokes
highlight the use of colour and texture as the primary driving forces in the work, emphasising emotion rather than
representation. "Thereafter visual reality, the aim to construct a 'tangible' world receded. In its place there was a
preoccupation with evoking the essence, the mood of places and of people. (Artist quoted in Geeti Sen, "The Seed
and the Fruit: Metaphors in Raza's Painting," S H Raza, Mumbai: Saffronart, 2005, p. 6)

Raza recognised the importance of constants amid change. Perhaps it is for this reason that he revisited concepts
and subjects that held an emotional significance that was likely to endure. According to Yashodhara Dalmia, "For
Raza there is an awareness of the past which continuously exists in the present... We see that his colour cycles are
matched by a conceptual stream which continuously archives deeper ravines. This restless craving for a renewal of
means and methods is the essential aspect of the works of Raza." ("The Subliminal World of Raza," Vajpeyi, p. 197)

La Terre 3, 1970 La Terre, 1972
Saffronart, 9‒10 December 2019, lot 67 Saffronart, New Delhi, 21 September 2017, lot 8
Sold for Rs 2.02 crores ($288,000) Sold for Rs 2.64 crores ($419,048)

67

"As I began to paint, the landscapes came naturally and gradually,
the outlines faded into abstracts... There 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. This continues. There
is a pause, a silence, an accident and in the end some sort of
harmony."  RAM KUMAR

Ram Kumar’s landscapes evolved from realistic
representations to abstract interpretations, pared
down to colours and forms rather than depicting an
identifiable location. In works such as the present lot,
the artist “translates the landscape into a system of lines,
planes, blocks; their machine‒edged logic, entering into
dialogue with texture and tone, govern the distribution
of significant masses over the picture space… He does
not mirror reality, but subjects it to a prismatic analysis:
his topography, for instance, is a diagram of forces in a
field rather than a picturesque post‒card view; each city,
each trapfall is a summation of views from various angles,
arranged on the same plane for the discernment of the
viewer.” (Ranjit Hoskote, “The Poet of the Visionary
Landscape,” Ram Kumar: A Journey Within, Vadehra Art
Gallery, New Delhi, 1996, p. 38)

Spring was painted during an austere phase in Ram
Kumar's artistic career, when he worked with a
predominantly monochromatic palette. During the
first half of this decade, according to critic Richard
Bartholomew, "Ram alternated between the "literary"
and the "pure" styles of abstraction. Colour and the
complexity of imagery determined the mood of the
painting... Using the encaustic process Ram even delved
into shades of black. Greys derived from blues and
browns set off the facets of the textures, the drifts, the
engulfed landforms, the isthmus shapes and the general
theme of the fecund but desolate landscape." (Richard
Bartholomew, "The Abstract as a Pictorial Proposition,"
Gagan Gill ed., Ram Kumar: A Journey Within, New Delhi:
Vadehra Art Gallery, 1996, p. 30) Here, Kumar portrays
an unusual aspect of the season – the subtle tones are
possibly reminiscent of transformation, when the snow
has not quite melted and hints at what is to come. 

The present lot was showcased in 1965 in Nairobi,
Kampala and Dar es Salaam as part of a travelling
exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art in East Africa,
organised by the Lalit Kala Akademi.

69

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED
PRIVATE COLLECTION, MUMBAI
24

RAM KUMAR (1924‒2018)

Spring
Signed in Devnagari and dated ‘61’ (lower left); bearing
Lalit Kala Akademi label (on the reverse)
1961
Oil on canvas
41.5 x 32.5 in (105.5 x 82.7 cm)
Rs 60,00,000 ‒ 80,00,000
$81,085 ‒ 108,110
PROVENANCE
Christie’s, New York, 20 September 2007, lot 105
Saffronart, 10‒11 June 2009, lot 74
EXHIBITED
Contemporary Indian Art, presented by New Delhi: Lalit Kala
Akademi at Nairobi, Kampala, Dar es Salaam, 1965 ‒ 1966

Ram Kumar photographed by Jehangir Nicholson, February 1997
Reproduced from Ram Kumar: Works in the Jehangir Nicholson Collection,
Mumbai: Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, 2015, p. 15

71

25

ASIT KUMAR HALDAR (1890‒1964)

Self Portrait

Signed in Bengali with artist’s stamp (lower left)
Oil on paper board
34 x 22 in (86.4 x 55.9 cm)

Rs 12,00,000 ‒ 15,00,000
$16,220 ‒ 20,275

PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the artist’s family
Project 88, Mumbai
Private Collection, Mumbai

EXHIBITED
Father and Daughter: Laying Down the Linework, Kolkata: Galerie 88, 15
January ‒ 16 February 2019; Mumbai: Project 88, 11 June ‒ 31 July 2019

PUBLISHED
Debashish Banerji, Father and Daughter: Laying Down the Linework,
Kolkata: Galerie 88, 2019 (illustrated, cover and p. 19)

Asit Kumar Haldar is known for his artistic versatility,
skilfully depicting scenes from history and mythology,
in addition to illustrating books, sculpting, and writing.
A member of the Tagore family as well as a first
generation artist of the Bengal School of Art, Haldar is
remembered for his invention of the ‘lacit’ technique
of lacquer painting on wood. Primarily informed by his
training at the Bengal School of Art and his experience
documenting the murals and frescoes at the Ajanta
caves, Haldar also incorporated elements from Rajput
and Pahari miniature paintings in his art, creating a
unique idiom characterised by delicate line work and
colour washes. The present lot features a self‒portrait
that was part of the Father and Daughter ‒ Laying Down
the Linework exhibition at Galerie 88 in 2019. Articulated
in subtle earth colours, this painting is typical of Haldar’s
explorations of form, colour and line, executed with
characteristic subtlety and accuracy.

Asit Kumar Haldar
Image courtesy of Delhi Art Gallery

72

73

26

V S GAITONDE (1924‒2001)

Untitled
Signed in Devnagari and dated ‘18.12.1974’ (lower right)
1974
Pen and ink on paper
10.25 x 9 in (25.8 x 23 cm)
Rs 25,00,000 ‒ 35,00,000
$33,785 ‒ 47,300

PROVENANCE
Acquired from Sharon Lowen
Private Collection, Mumbai

74

75

PROPERTY FROM AN IMPORTANT PROVENANCE
PRIVATE COLLECTION, BANGALORE Christie’s, New York, 20 September 2006, lot 114

27 PUBLISHED
Aziz Kurtha ed, Francis Newton Souza: Bridging Western and
F N SOUZA (1924‒2002) Indian Modern Art, Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing, 2006,
p. 174 (illustrated)
Homer

Signed and dated ‘Souza 64’ (centre left); inscribed and
dated ‘F N SOUZA/ HOMER/ 1964’ (on the reverse)
1964
Oil on Masonite
29.5 x 23.5 in (75 x 59.9 cm)

Rs 1,50,00,000 ‒ 2,00,00,000
$202,705 ‒ 270,275

F N Souza was one of the first Indian artists to achieve high distinction in the Western art space. Painted in 1964, the
present lot belongs to a highly lucrative period that is generally considered the apex of his career. “For almost ten years,
from 1956 to 1966, he dominated the British art scene, showing his work and selling regularly. He was written about
extensively and received praise from critics such as John Berger, Edwin Mullins and David Sylvester, to name a few.”
(Rasheed Araeen ed., The Other Story: Afro‒Asian Artists in Post‒War Britain, London: South Bank Centre, 1989, p. 23)

Homer is possibly a reference to the Greek poet, who was blind but possessed a powerful awareness of humanity and
human actions that led him to compose two of the greatest epics in Western mythology, The Iliad and The Odyssey. It is
likely that Souza, who intended his art as commentary on the flawed nature of human beings, would have found kinship
in Homer. By depicting him with pock marks like his own, scars from the pustules of smallpox which had ravaged his face,
he perhaps compares himself with the legendary bard. Souza’s art, as well as his writing, both reveal a torturous process of
creation and the need to leave a lasting impact on the viewer or reader—a reference to Homer and his enduring legacy.

The present lot addresses Souza’s continued preoccupation with depicting distorted human forms that began in the late
1940s. His evolving style is seen in the use of circular forms that replaced the razor‒edged cross‒hatchings from earlier
works. This progression demonstrates his versatility as a draughtsman, prompting critic Yashodhara Dalmia to write: “It
is in depicting heads that Souza introduced his most inventive features that bring to the fore his whole painterly arsenal...
It is the line that is Souza’s most articulate element and he uses it with great agility to
encase the form. It is a sharp, clear, virile boundary that separates negative space from
positive space and by its sheer virtuosity delineates the object.” (Yashodhara Dalmia,
“A Passion for the Human Figure,” The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives,
New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 93)

By the time he painted the present lot, Souza’s work had appeared in many Homer
prestigious galleries in the UK, including the Tate, the Royal Academy of Arts, the Wikimedia Commons
Whitechapel Art Gallery, Bradford Museum, and Castle Museum, Norwich, as well as
across Europe. Art historian Eddie Chambers writes, “If ever a mid‒twentieth century
immigrant artist symbolised an impulse towards the universal languages of art that
were simultaneously grounded in individual particularities of identity, it was Souza.”
(Eddie Chambers, Black Artists in British Art: A History Since the 1950s, London: I B
Tauris & Co Ltd, 2014, online)

76

77



Souza’s interest in characterisation, self‒ F N Souza, 1973
deprecation and the human condition StoryLTD, 18‒19 July 2017, lot 32 p)
manifested in his portraits, which he developed
stylistically over the years—from iconic bold lines 79
and his trademark cross‒hatching technique
in the beginning (as seen in the present lot), to
an eventual progression to loops and whorls,
tubular structures, and systematic distortion
(lot 27). His early figurative works, especially the
iconic ‘Heads’ of the 1950s, set the precedent
for a unique style—one that peeled away the
appearance and revealed instead his subjects’
character, personality, and even their obsessions
and depravations. “Many of the tendencies that
became distinct in Souza's later years could
be detected in these early works. The thick,
bounding line, the distortion of the figure and the
dislocation of facial characteristics had already
begun to mark his style.” (Yashodhara Dalmia,
“A Passion for the Human Figure,” The Making of
Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New Delhi:
Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 80)

Souza’s “futuristic heads” offered a channel
for his observations and social commentary,
sometimes symbolising a cynical view of human
hypocrisy and decadence, or scathing critiques
of the soulless clergy and gentry—and were
occasionally even representations of the self.
According to British writer and critic Edwin
Mullins, who wrote a seminal monograph on the
artist in 1962 and also owned works by Souza in
his private collection, “...because his images are
clearly intended to be human, one is compelled
to ask why his faces have eyes high up in the
forehead, or else scattered in profusion all over
the face; why he paints mouths that stretch like
hair combs across the face, and limbs that branch
out like thistles. Souza’s imagery is not a surrealist
vision — a self‒conscious aesthetic shock — so
much as a spontaneous re‒creation of the world
as he has seen it, distilled in the mind by a host
of private experiences and associations.” (Edwin
Mullins, Souza, London: Anthony Blond Ltd.,
1962, p. 39)

28

F N SOUZA (1924‒2002)

Man at Table
Signed and dated ‘Souza 58’ (lower right); inscribed
and dated ‘F.N SOUZA/ MAN AT TABLE/ 1958’ (on the
reverse)
1958
Oil on board
29.75 x 23.5 in (75.5 x 60 cm)
Rs 1,50,00,000 ‒ 2,00,00,000
$202,705 ‒ 270,275
PROVENANCE
Sotheby’s, New York, 20 September 2005, lot 213
Private Collection, Mumbai

Around the time that he painted the present lot, Souza
had steadily begun to achieve due recognition and
patronage for his art. He had found a wealthy benefactor
in Harold Kovner, representation at Victor Musgrave’s
Gallery One, and approval with art critics. Writing about
his paintings of heads, Andrew Forge observed that
“Somewhere behind any serious portrait painting there
is a wish to gain command of a person... But in Souza
you can see the real thing operating, you can see him
closing in on his images as though they could save his
life, or backing away from them as though they could
kill him. Souza himself has said that he has made of his
art ‘a metabolism. I express myself freely in paint in order
to exist.’” (Andrew Forge, “Round the London Galleries,”
The Listener, 28 November 1957)

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DR HOMI BHABHA (1909‒1966)

The present lot was once part of the collection of Dr Homi Bhabha, India’s foremost nuclear physicist, founding director
of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), and a well‒known patron of the arts. The Nobel prize nominee was
the principal architect of India’s nuclear energy programme—colloquially deemed as its “father”—and the key figure in
setting its course in scientific and policy matters.

Born into a rich, Parsi family in then Bombay in 1909, Dr Bhabha grew up to study engineering at Cambridge, England
at his father’s behest, but turned to physics after he developed a strong interest in the subject. He soon joined the
Cavendish Laboratory, and obtained his doctorate by 1935. Four years later, when World War II broke out, Dr Bhabha
was in India on holiday and—at the invitation of Professor C V Raman, director of the Indian Institute of Science,
Bangalore—decided to stay on as a reader at the institute. In the next five years, Dr Bhabha had recognised the need for
a superior research centre for the development of nuclear energy and industrial growth of the country, and written a
proposal to his friend J R D Tata to acquire funds for this project. Subsequently, the TIFR was set up in May 1945 with Dr
Bhabha at its director, a position he held until his death in 1966.

During this time, Dr Bhabha was instrumental in founding the Atomic Energy Establishment in Trombay, later renamed
Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi after his death. His contribution to the
development of atomic energy brought him significant recognition in international scientific circles, leading him to serve
as the president of the United Nations Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy in 1955 and as president of
the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics from 1960‒1963.

Apart from his pioneering lifework in nuclear physics, Dr Bhabha equally
maintained a well‒rounded enthusiasm for arts and culture—Professor Raman
once described him as “the modern equivalent of Leonardo da Vinci.” Growing
up in an environment where interests in music, art and literature were commonly
cultivated habits, Dr Bhabha enjoyed and had access to his grandfather’s vast
library, his father’s impressive collection of books on art and music, and the family’s
extensive selection of Western classical music gramophone records—which Dr
Bhabha and his brother, Jamshed, listened to for hours in their childhood.

Dr Bhabha’s passion for the arts perhaps rivalled his passion for science. A talented
artist himself, he won several prizes at the Bombay Art Society exhibitions at a
young age. This artistic passion would only grow as he moved to Cambridge and
was exposed to museums and concerts; he even designed the stage décor for
Calderon’s play Life is a Dream, Handel’s Susanah, and Mozart’s opera Idomeno.

In his lifetime, Dr Bhabha collected several works by noted Indian artists, and A news article illustrating a selection of artworks
even maintained close friendships with them. Some of these works became from the NCPA (including the present lot) that
part of the TIFR art collection, while those from his personal collection—such were sold in auction in 2011, and were originally
as the present lot—were left to his brother, who in turn bequeathed them to part of the personal collection of Dr Homi Bhabha.
the NCPA and were sold in auction in 2011. As his brother Jamshed as said, “For
Homi Bhabha, the arts were not just a form of recreation or pleasant relaxation;
they were among the most serious pursuits of life and he attached just as much
importance to them as to his work in mathematics and physics. For him, the
arts were, in his own words, ‘what made life worth living’.” (“Homi Bhabha and
the TIFR Art Collection,” Google Arts and Culture, online)

83

PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED The present lot, an enigmatic landscape painted in
PRIVATE COLLECTION, MUMBAI 1970, was likely inspired by Husain’s visit to Egypt
29 and the Middle East in the 1950s. Depicting a single
palm tree in the foreground against the backdrop of
M F HUSAIN (1913‒2011) a pyramid amid golden sands, the painting is suffused
with warm yellow, brown and rust hues to evoke the
Landscape of a Triangle sultry heat of the desert. In its composition and colour
Signed in Devnagari and Urdu and dated ‘70’ (lower palette, it continues Husain’s preoccupation with the
right); inscribed and signed ‘”LANDSCAPE OF A desert landscape that began in the previous decade
TRIANGLE”/ B/ V/ 70/ Husain’ (on the reverse) after he embarked on a tour of Rajasthan, painting and
1970 drawing his way through the forts and desert towns of
Oil on canvas Bundi, Udaipur, Jaisalmer and Chittor, among others.
36 x 26 in (91.6 x 66.3 cm)
Rs 60,00,000 ‒ 80,00,000 Similar to those works, Husain absorbs the colour and
$81,085 ‒ 108,110 atmosphere of the Egyptian desert in the present lot
through specific illustrations of its local ecosystem
PROVENANCE and architecture. In doing so, he presents what is
The Homi Bhabha Collection unmistakeably a view of an Egyptian landscape,
Pundole’s, Mumbai, 20 April 2011, lot 8 demonstrating his masterful capacity to capture the
essence of a place. “He views each painting as a fragment
“I am aware of music whose counterpoint exists elsewhere, and
of cracks in Rembrandt, his entire painterly activity as one immense effort
whose browns burn in me. at orchestration of all the notes that he hears… No
painting is intended as a complete statement… While
I tremble not, time as the immediate, here‒and‒now communication
though of sensation may be abstracted from Husain’s paintings,
rock‒rust boots his forms and colours thus remain alive with energy.”
are ditched deep. (Richard Bartholomew and Shiv S Kapur, Husain, New
York: Harry N Abrams, Inc., 1971, p. 60)
But
the silky sun This painting is part of a brief, but brilliant period
afloat on Turner of experimentation in Husain’s career when he was
shrills me.” producing semi‒abstracted landscapes inspired by his
travels across the country to Benaras (lot 30), Rajasthan
 M F HUSAIN and Kerala, among other locations. His primary
concern lay in exploring the visual and physical abilities
of paint itself, while achieving a connection between
“form and feeling.” (Bartholomew and Kapur, p. 46) In
these works, he never fully departs from the figurative
element, often merging the figure with the landscape in
a way “where the human beings take on the contours
of rugged hills, rural hamlets, and incorporate in their
own shapes the flora and fauna of the countryside.”
(Ebrahim Alkazi, M F Husain: The Modern Artist and
Tradition, New Delhi: Art Heritage, 1978, p. 4)

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The years before the present lot was M F Husain
painted were a period of steadily © Jyoti Bhatt
rising success for M F Husain. From
1956 to 1961, he frequently travelled
and exhibited in different parts of the
world, including the Venice Biennale
in 1954 and at various shows in
Zürich (lot 7), Prague, Frankfurt
and Rome. In 1959, he had received
the International Biennale award in
Tokyo. This global recognition was
countered by a continued inward
exploration of artistic experiences
that were rooted in Indian subjects,
themes, aesthetic traditions and
practices. His vast travels through
the country provided him with a
large repertoire of images and motifs
that appear on his canvases imbued
with layers of symbolic meaning and
emotive content.

In 1960, Husain and fellow Progressive
Artists’ Group member Ram Kumar
went on a trip to Benaras. Although
this journey was only a brief one
for Husain, albeit a life‒long one
for Kumar, it impacted both artists
deeply—resulting in a series of
works inspired and dedicated to
this holy city, including the present
lot. “Twenty years since Ram Kumar
and myself sailed silently close to
the ghats of Varanasi, my fascination
for that eternal city is ever growing...
Every morning, the proverbial Morn
of Benares (Subah‒e‒Benares)
would glow in gold and we pass
(sic) by many ghats without a word.
Only later we break our silence at
a roadside Bengali coffee house…”
(Artist quoted in Dnyaneshwar
Nadkarni, Husain: Riding the Lightning,
Bombay: Popular Prakashan Pvt. Ltd.,
1996, p. 110)

30 poem dedicated to Kumar—written in the chapter
“Four Friends” in his unpublished autobiography—
M F HUSAIN (1913‒2011) Husain describes the differing styles in which both artists
chose to paint the ancient city: “One brush played with
Benaras Ghat ‒ 2 the waves of restless Ganga. The other was still—like a
Signed ‘Husain’ (lower right) centuries’ old meditative trance of the Benaras ghats.”
Circa 1960s (Artist quoted in Gagan Gill ed., Ram Kumar: A Journey
Oil on board Within, New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 1996, p. 209)
35.75 x 24 in (90.7 x 61 cm)
Rs 70,00,000 ‒ 80,00,000 Here, the artist uses earthy brown tones rendered
$94,595 ‒ 108,110 in heavy, gestural brushstrokes to suggest a sense of
movement. Through a fluid combination of form and
PROVENANCE line, Husain blurs the distinction between the individuals
Acquired directly from the artist and background, creating a uniquely singular work that is
Private Collection, New Delhi both figurative and abstraction. “On the ghats of Banaras
his bathers bathe in ancient lava, so thick and grey are
This ancient city is perhaps, paradoxically, both sacred the encrustations of his impasto, so acute his sense of
and profane, as a site of pilgrimage and the final resting the timelessness of the ritual he saw performed on those
place for the remains of the dead. The various sights hoary steps on the river’s edge.” (Richard Bartholomew
and sounds—the pilgrims bathing in the Ganges river, and Shiv S Kapur, Husain, New York: Harry N Abrams,
the rituals of priests and holy men, and the washing Inc., 1971, p. 41)
of cremated ashes down the holy river—are symbolic
representations of the cycle of creation and destruction, Husain saw the artistic appeal of Benaras—a city whose
and would have been of great significance to the artist. ancient rituals endure even today—as the perfect
“All this occurs in a burning North Indian sun which canvas to bridge the divide between the tradition and
mixes with the smoke of cremations to envelop the modern. “Husain’s lifelong aim has been to find a voice
space in a colored dome. Husain has captured this dome with which to acknowledge the richness and throes
of color through his black backgrounds, against which of contemporary Indian life in a way that also seeks to
white traced figures become sharply energised. Figures preserve India traditional. His art aims for the condition
are further activated by Husain’s characteristic, shaky of Benares, in which creative innovation, although
defining line. Some seem caught in two positions, as if destructive, will also recycle or otherwise preserve India’s
in cinematic stop‒motion. Figures and background are roots. Husain has been signal in leading Indian art into
partly merged in that the figures are silhouettes filled in the contemporary world.” (Dr Herwitz, p. 17)
by background itself. There are no shadows; no light is
filtered. The space seems cast as a dramatic enclosure Varanasi (Benaras)
where fate is being played out…” (Dr Daniel Herwitz, Public Domain
Husain, Bombay: Tata Steel, 1988, p. 17)

In the present lot, Husain separates the vertical
composition into three parts: the upper third depicts
the city, in the middle third are a group of people
bathing at the ghats, while the lower third contains the
dark, reflecting waters of the Ganges river. In an Urdu

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In 1960, Ram Kumar made the
defining journey to Benaras which
marked a turning point in his
career. Accompanied by his friend
and fellow artist M F Husain,
Kumar’s exposure to this complex,
buzzing city that represented
the cycle of life and death would
become a central subject of his
works in the following decades.
By the late 1950s, the artist had
already begun to move away from
figurative works in search of a new
artistic journey, and he returned to
his native Simla in 1959.

Benaras fascinated Kumar, but
rather than a literal representation
of the sights around him, his
depictions were emotive,
negotiating the forms of the
landscape with the increasingly
abstract depictions of built forms
and water. "Benares is important for
me both as an artist and as a human
being. The first paintings came at a
point when I wanted to develop
elements in figurative painting and
go beyond it. My first visit to the
city invoked an emotional reaction
as it had peculiar associations. But
such romantic ideas were dispelled
when I came face to face with
reality. There was so much pain and
sorrow of humanity. As an artist, it
became a challenge to portray this
agony and suffering. Its intensity
required the use of symbolic motifs,
so my Benares is of a representative
sort." (Seema Bawa, “Ram Kumar:
Artistic Intensity of an Ascetic,”
artnewsnviews.com, online)

Ram Kumar
© Jyoti Bhatt

31

RAM KUMAR (1924‒2018)

Untitled (Benares)
Oil on canvas
40.75 x 33.75 in (103.5 x 85.8 cm)
Rs 80,00,000 ‒ 1,20,00,000
$108,110 ‒ 162,165
PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the artist
An Eminent Family Collection, New Delhi
Acquired from the above

The present lot features a cluster of jumbled forms painted in an earthy palette, surrounded by blue water – possibly an
aerial view of the vibrant city. According to Meera Menezes, over the years, Kumar’s depictions of Benaras would oscillate
between “expressionism and abstraction,” as well as “the city and landscape.” (Meera Menezes, Ram Kumar: Traversing
the Landscapes of the Mind, Mumbai: Saffronart, 2016, p. 12) The artist’s unique vision of the well‒visited and significant
city – known to be “teeming with people” and with “myriad sounds, high pitched noises and melodious chants” –
imagines instead a desolate place devoid of people. However, it is  “not really deserted… What he was interested in
depicting was not just the jostling crowds at the ghats; not the hubbub of rites; not the hope, or frenzy, or anticipated
bliss of the people; but the silent waiting that underlay it all.' (Geeta Kapur, Contemporary Indian Artists, New Delhi: Vikas
Publishing House, 1978, p. 75)

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Jogen Chowdhury’s art eschews Western trends in favour of a uniquely Indian approach inspired by traditional folklore
and Indian family values. Though the Bengal influence in his work is undeniable, his attention to figuration and his
skilful composition ensure a universal appeal. Chowdhury’s freely rendered figures are influenced by his observations of
people and their quotidian lives. Often distorted, these figures are articulated in a subtle cross‒hatching technique that
Chowdhury adopted in the 1960s.
Commenting on his study of figuration Chowdury says, “It seems to me that the depth of perception that comes in
figuration, the way figures can illuminate life may not be possible through other means. I want to portray our human
environment, the people of our country, their nature, their way of sitting because they are different from others. You’ll
notice that there’s a peculiar Indianness in their gestures and that attracts me. And it is this—the particular characteristics
we see—that I wish to distil in my art. I develop these portrayals through distortion... I try to import in my figures an
extra quality that’s beyond academic naturalism, a certain abstract quality that makes them supra‒real.” (Artist quoted
in Rakhi Sarkar, Jogen Chowdhury and Rita Dutta, Jogen Chowdhury: His Life and Times, Kolkata: Cima Gallery Pvt. Ltd.,
2006, p. 37)
Chowdhury’s depictions of women are not so much a study in portraiture, as they are the artist’s interpretation of
his subjects. In the present lot, the woman appears oblivious to the viewer, absorbed in her own thoughts, typical of
Chowdhury’s later works which he described as “more personalised and subtle.” Here, the elongated limbs rendered
in his characteristic cross‒hatching technique are typical of his style. The magnified size and posture of the woman
illuminated in an otherwise darkened room, lends the painting a dramatic, almost theatrical quality.

Jogen Chowdhury
Wikimedia Commons

“People for me are an increasingly sophisticated and alluring
proposition when I look for a subject.”  JOGEN CHOWDHURY

32

JOGEN CHOWDHURY (b.1939)

Woman under the Quilt

Inscribed and dated ‘Jogen Chowdhury/ “Woman
under the quilt (2004)” (on the reverse)
2004
Pen, ink and pastels on paper
22.25 x 28 in (56.2 x 71.2 cm)

Rs 50,00,000 ‒ 60,00,000
$67,570 ‒ 81,085

PROVENANCE
An Important Private Collection, New Delhi

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33

ANJOLIE ELA MENON (b.1940)

Untitled
Signed and dated ‘Anjolie Ela Menon 90’ (lower right)
1990
Oil on canvas
60 x 48.5 in (152.7 x 123.1 cm)
Rs 50,00,000 ‒ 70,00,000
$67,570 ‒ 94,595
PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Mumbai

“I am neither a didactic nor narrative painter. I am hardly concerned
with events, though I like to lay my people bare… sometimes
ripping open a chest to reveal the heart beating within.”

 ANJOLIE ELA MENON

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Meera Mukherjee
Reproduced from Kishore Chatterjee, Meera Mukherjee, Kolkata: Galerie 88, 12 May ‒ 7 June 2008

“As the fires keep burning, for the 10 or 12 hours that a piece is being
fired, I am alert and trying to keep it alive. Sculpture thus becomes
a complete, total process. It is like ‘nurturing and nourishing’, like
making a human being and bringing him to life.”

 MEERA MUKHERJEE

A deep interest in traditional sculpting
traditions led Meera Mukherjee to travel
across India in the 1960s and 1970s and
learn about metal‒working techniques.
During this time, she apprenticed with
Bastar sculptors in Madhya Pradesh,
where she learnt the Dhokra method of
casting—also known as cire perdue or
lost wax—an ancient technique that has
existed in India for nearly 4,500 years.
Mukherjee eventually invented her own
sculpting process, first creating her work
in wax, then building it up and adding
surface decoration using wax strips
and rolls. The resulting effect creates
the unusual finish that is characteristic
of her work. Despite the toughness of
the material, her cast bronze sculptures
evoke the delicacy of filigree work.

Mukherjee’s art conveys a deep spiritual
bond to her roots, history and culture.
Her sculptures often depict rural scenes
of labourers, artisans and craftsman
engaged in daily work, as seen in the
present lot. Here, she transforms the
realistic scene of a woman spinning yarn
into a dignified act of human endeavour to
evoke a higher meaning to our existence.
“Meera’s world in bronze is full of
movement. The viewers’ eyes do not only
follow the flowing contours of the figures
but also the patterns, lineatures and
ornamentations animating the surfaces
of her bronze sculptures… Casting into
form such volatile phenomenon such as
music and singing or spiritual energies,
and yet render them tangible to give
them the impression of constant flowing
and transiency of each shape is one of
Meera Mukherjee’s great achievements.”
(Dr Clelia Segieth, Remembering Meera
Mukherjee, Bernried: Buchheim Museum,
2012, p. 8)