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

131 MASTERPIECES & MUSEUM-QUALITY III 60 H.A. GADE (1917-2001 / b. Talegaon, Maharashtra) Kashmir S/d in English l.l. & inscribed on verso Gouache on paper, 1950 61.0 x 62.9 cm (24 x 24.8 in) Slight fraying of edges with small tear in the l.l. and l.r. sections of the work Rs. 500,000 – 600,000 US$ 11,100 – 13,350 GB£ 8,950 – 7,300 OSIANs S.I.R. ANALYSIS [1992–2003] Present Estimate 840.05 Previous High 729.70 Previous Average 226.74 Auction Average 289.84 Opinion This is probably the finest painting by Gade which has come up for public sale. Along with Bakre, Gade remains one of the most under-rated artists of his generation, though it is true to say that few truly spectacular Gade’s have come on the market to excite the buying public. “‘I know people only as shapes. A human being or a tree for me is a colour area, nothing else because I dislike illustration. An illustration is not a modern painting and I avoid it. Not that I have not done figures but for me they are important only to the extent that they formulate certain aesthetic relationships.’” (H.A. Gade, rpt. in The Making of Modern Indian Art – The Progressives . OUP 2001; p.178.)