Osian's Auction Catalogue Masterpieces and Museum-Quality III | March 2004

123 MASTERPIECES & MUSEUM-QUALITY III 56 K.H. ARA (1914-85 / b. Bolarum, Andhra Pradesh) Woman Signed in English l.l. & dated in English l.r. Watercolour on paper, 1940 49.5 x 36.5 cm (19.5 x 14.4 in) Tear in paper visible in the l.c. and c.l. with small tears throughout the work. Some damage visible to the t.r area of the work. Rs. 350,000 – 425,000 US$ 7,800 – 9,450 GB£ 4,250 – 5,200 57 K.H. ARA (1914-85 / b. Bolarum, Andhra Pradesh) Still Life with Sailor Signed in English l.r. & inscribed on verso: To Dear Lalitha, With all the best wishes, From Ara, 1-12-52 Watercolour on paper, 1952 65.0 x 50.5 cm (25.6 x 19.9 in) Minor creasing of paper throughout the work Rs. 350,000 – 425,000 US$ 7,800 – 9,450 GB£ 4,250 – 5,200 OSIANs S.I.R. ANALYSIS [1992–2003] Present Estimate 687.03 Previous Highs 718.30 [HT.Mum/15.11.97; Still Life] 718.30 [Os.Mum/05.12.02; Village Market] Previous Average Works on canvas 237.87 Auction Average 289.84 Lot 56 represents one of the earliest works of K.H. Ara to come up for public sale. His first solo exhibition was in 1942. “ In many ways, Ara’s lack of formal training could be seen as an advantage, for in his struggle for articulation there were no academic impositions. As eclectic and raw as his painterly forms were, they were at the same time authentic to his inner striving and were later to be turned to a stunning advantage. Even at this stage, however, what could be evidenced was a penchant for compositions that drew from the quick of life, the raw edge as it were.” (Yashodhara Dalmia, rpt. in The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives 2001; pp.129-130.) “ Pots set against various backgrounds, sometimes in a surrealist manner, and achieve strangely human personalities. The drama of existence the very fact of being, can evolve from the humblest of things in an Ara painting. Poetry is created in his still-life. They do not follow the laboured manner of naturalistic object painting, but are conceived and ordered spontaneously in elegant compositions – compositions where shapes, masses and colours are beautifully balanced.” (Rudi von Leydon, rpt. in Ara . New Delhi: LKA 1965.) “ The impact of Ara’s still-lifes lies in his uncanny imaginative creation of a complete situation, an atmosphere that pervades the picture space and extends beyond it. Whether he chooses just a few subjects correlated to each other, or a crowded composition submitting not so much to decorative pattern but to organic texture – this feeling for the total aspect is present.” (Rudi von Leyden, rpt. in Marg. Vol.VI, No.2, 1953 .) “ He achieves in his still-lifes, arrangements instinct with dramatic action, a penetrating unity of vision, overshadowing their technical competence. They have an impeccable sense of colour, rich or evanescent, suiting the mood; they are emotive realisations of atmosphere, extending beyond the painting in an invitation to magic casements and fairylands. In a brilliant economy of line and colour, his still-lifes have decorative finesse, which is not achieved at the expense of their organic structure.” (P.R. Ramachandra Rao, rpt. in Contemporary Indian Art 1969; p.20.) OSIANs S.I.R. ANALYSIS [1992–2003] Present Estimate 1,246.44 Refer to Lot 56 K.H. Ara won his only B.A.S. Gold Medal for the painting Still Life with Two Jugs in 1952, the same year as Lot 57 .