Osian's Auction Catalogue India The Passionate Detachment | February 2001

THE PASSIONATE DETACHMENT 164 PAPR Lot 234 So.Lon/ 17.06.99 Zainul Abedin Sketch from the Famine Series Ink & Brush on paper, 1943 36.5 x 52.5 cm. ASP: £ 12,500/ Rs.853,750 (£1 = Rs. 68.30) 143 CHITTAPROSAD (1915 — 78) Bengal Famine Series-Bezwada S/d in English, l.l. Pen & Ink, 12 March 1944 11.5 x 28.1 cm. (4.5 x 11.1”) Rs. 200,000 – 250,000 $ 4,255 – 5,320 144 CHITTAPROSAD (1915 - 78) Bengal Famine Series- Halishar Chittagong S/d in English, l.r. Pen & Ink, 1 August 1944 28.3 x 38.8 cm. (11.1 x 15.3”) Rs. 200,000 – 250,000 $ 4,255 – 5,320 “ He first drew attention of people by his powerful and sensitive drawings of the tragic man-made Bengal famine of 1943… These drawings of Chittaprosad, mostly sketched on the spot in pencil were finished later in black and white either in pen or brush and ink… They profoundly moved the intellectuals of India of the time, both communists and non-communists and a number of well established as well as young talented artists and writers were drawn towards depicting the life, suffering and struggle of the down- trodden through their arts…His strong desire for easy communication with the common people and his familiarity with our rich folk-art forms endowed his work with dynamism and simplicity.” (Prabhas Sen, LKA Monograph 1993 ). “ He (Chittaprosad) was my first mentor. He took me virtually by the hand and guided and encouraged me to draw portraits of the hungry, sick and dying people… At night, I would watch him deftly fill out the pencil sketches done throughout the day with brush and Chinese ink in the light of the lantern… (these) drawings were adding a further dimension to reality and were agitating the hearts of the people, convulsing their very existence. We have rarely seen such emphatic and penetrating studies of the affliction that is famine.” (Somnath Hore, LKA Monograph 1993 ). “ Their talk revolved round two themes, the sinfulness of war-rich contractors and the rottenness and corruption of the Government officials. But then I would ask point blank: ‘ Do not the common people, you and me have a duty to help and save our neighbors, our own flesh and blood?’ They would become speechless and try and look away, as Rehman did when Amina spoke out. People had stopped thinking. Those who were not yet driven into the Labour Corps or into the ranks of the destitutes had put on blinkers to be able to live their own lives without getting a splitting headache thinking of the human misery all around.” (Chittaprosad, from Life behind the Front Lines , rpt. in People’s War. Vol.III No.13 , Sunday 24 September 1944). PAPR Lot 234 So.Lon/ 17.06.99 Zainul Abedin Sketch from the Famine Series Ink & Brush on paper, 1943 36.5 x 52.5 cm. ASP: £ 12,500/ Rs. 853,750 (£1 = Rs. 68.30)