Osian's Auction Catalogue Forty Masterpieces | March 2003

“These early paintings, such as What To Do are just an expression of the labour and toil I saw before me, the helplessness and confusion of youth, the unemployed, the poor. When I would come out of college, seeing so much poverty and the pain of the workers, it was also a major source of confusion on how to absorb this within myself. This pain was given another form with the later satirical works after 1970. Here depicting the corruption and greed of the politicians and powerful people became the focus of one’s artistic vision.” (Rameshwar Broota, in conversation with Neville Tuli, 29 January 2003.) This very rare work, kept by the artist for over 30 years, is till date Broota’s most significant painting to be auctioned. The structural use of three ‘figures’ is evident throughout Broota’s artisitic evolution, starting from the late 1960s to the present day. What To Do S/d in Hindi, l.r. Oil on canvas, 1969 175.0 x 266.0 cm (69.0 x 104.5 in) Provenance The Artist, New Delhi Rs. 2,000,000 – 2,200,000 $ 41,700 – 45,800 £ 25,000 – 27,500 _ 38,500 – 42,300 82 83 28 RAMESHWAR BROOTA [b.1941/ New Delhi] Os.Mum/ 05.12.2002 Lot 99 Untitled (Triptych) Oil on canvas, 2002 30 x 90 in ASP: Rs. 1,210,000 That Unending Story Oil on canvas, 1971 57.0 x 70.0 in The Runners Oil on canvas, 1982 80.0 x 80.0 in