Osian's Auction Catalogue Forty Masterpieces | March 2003

“ Art to me is a happening and performance – an instant plunging, flirting and merging with life with being and becoming. All that is there on the canvas is but a celebration…The feeling of unlimitedness envelopes – something mystical in a sense. Like a dancer who performs not for herself but for the spectator. The dancer becomes the spectator and the dance… later as a painter, I became aware of everything: nature, moving innately and rising towards its optimal expression. This phenomenon, which comprises the infinite order of the cosmic whole, was an inspiration to me as it burst upon me. It motivated my experiences and understanding of art… Most art, whether classical, academic or traditional remain bound up to a dualistic notion, reducing itself to a myth of subject and object. The real escapes, for it is seen as flux, without order… For a number of artists, the main preoccupation is to get past the surface reality into ‘the Real’ which is pure and formless.” (Ambadas, November 1996; reprinted in Chemould ExC. 1998). Ambadas is still one of the most underrated artists of Indian modern & contemporary painting, deserving far greater recognition and a deeper study by students and collectors alike. Untitled Oil on canvas, 1964 89.0 x 89.0 cm [35.0 x 35.0 in] Condition Restoration work has been carried out on the painting in Mumbai during December 2002 Provenance Private Collection, Jaipur Rs. 300,000 – 400,000 $ 6,300 – 8,300 £ 3,800 – 5,000 _ 5,800 – 7,700 70 71 22 AMBADAS [b.1922/ Akola, Maharashtra] Untitled Oil on canvas, 1964 Untitled Oil on canvas, 1987 Untitled Oil on canvas, 1971 Hot Wind Blows Within Me Oil on canvas, 1966