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

147 MASTERPIECES & MUSEUM-QUALITY III 69 NATRAJ SHARMA (b.1958 / Mysore, Karnataka) Invisible City/ The Roadmaker S/d in English on verso Oil on canvas, 1996-2000 189.5 x 284.0 cm (74.6 x 111.8 in) Rs. 600,000 – 700,000 US$ 13,350 – 15,550 GB£ 7,300 – 8,550 OSIANs S.I.R. ANALYSIS [1992–2003] Present Estimate 71.94 Previous High 56.73 [Sa.On/16.05.02] Previous Average 41.02 Auction Average 289.84 Opinion Lot 69 represents one of the very best works by the artist. “ Before I came to Vadodara, I lived in Bangalore where I did a lot of figurative, urban images. Moving to the outskirts of this city in western India, I was confronted with a primal, elemental landscape dotted by factories that looked extremely desolate in the summer. The world might be at the forefront of technology but for us these outdated factories and chunky machines are an everyday reality. I am not here to make moralistic statements about our oil-stained and garbage strewn landscapes. I want to seek the peculiar beauty of these desolate structures. Their presence is comforting.’” (Natraj Sharma, quoted in Real in Realism: Vadehra Art Gallery EXC . 2002.) Please refer to colour illustration rpt. in Embarkations – The Millennium Show EXC . Sakshi Gallery 1999; p.40.