Osian's Auction Catalogue Forty Masterpieces | March 2003

“ Nikhil’s art proclaims humanistic ethics. His pictures are filled with the dramatic gesture of struggle and pain, the rebellion against suffering and force, and the search for light. Contemporary themes are clothed in allegorical myths of Europe and Asia. Christ is for him just a symbol of humanity… Nikhil’s monumental rolling pictures show his interest in murals. The power and intensity of his works are the more admirable when we take into consideration his conditions of hardship and the obstacle of having to earn his living. He is very serious in his desire to create a realistic art with its roots in national and social life. We hope that his works will find walls in India. In our country we welcome him as a comrade working together with us in the world-wide front of realism.” (Karl-Erich Muller & Diether Schmidt, reprinted in Nikhil Biswas: Makimonos-Rolling Pictures 1966 ExC. [Organised by: Ministry of Culture of the GDR, German- S.E. Asian Society in GDR, Association of Painters & Sculptors of Germany & District Boards at Dresden & Halle.]) Killing in Violence Signed in English, l.l. Oil on packing paper (rolling pictures/Makimonos), 1965 102.5 x 291.0 cm [40.4 x 114.6 in] Condition This work has been preserved and restored in Kolkata. The damage has been contained but is considerable Provenance Consigned by a Private Collector from Kolkata, who acquired the painting after the famous Halle-Dresden Makimonos Exhibition of Nikhil Biswas, which was also his last exhibition Killing in Violence was the cover illustration for the famous Makimonos ExC. at Halle & Dresden, Germany (erstwhile GDR) in 1966. Rs. 1,250,000 – 1,500,000 $ 26,000 – 31,300 £ 15,600 – 18,800 _ 24,000 – 28,800 76 77 25 NIKHIL BISWAS [1930-66/ b.Calcutta, West Bengal]