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

41 MASTERPIECES & MUSEUM-QUALITY III 10 N.S. BENDRE (1910-92 / b. Indore, Madhya Pradesh) Fishing at Mahim Harbour, Bombay S/d in Devanagiri l.l. & inscribed on verso. Oil on canvas pasted on board, 1940 47.5 x 60.5 cm (18.7 x 23.8 in) Rs. 800,000 – 900,000 US$ 17,800 – 20,000 GB£ 9,750 – 11,000 “ With the inclusion of the hues and even the inclusion of the black colour which are Expressionist traits, Bendre rather successfully attempted a sort of telescoping of the late nineteenth century French Impressionist style with the German Expressionist style of the second decade of the twentieth century… Langhammer brought into India Kokoschka’s style of panoramic landscapes. Similar hues of colour were employed by Bendre to replace the mellow colour scheme of the existing Indore school as if to usher in the celebration of the Indian sunshine.” (Prof. Ratan Parimoo rpt. in Indian Art Exhibition: N.S. Bendre EXC. , [organised by Individuals Cultural Centre] Abhinav Art Gallery, Jammu 1992.) OSIANs S.I.R. ANALYSIS [1992-2003] Present Estimate 1,797.51 Previous Highs 3,363.82 [Os. Mum/18.03.02] 1,212.87 [Ch. HK/06.07.03] Previous Average For works on canvas 646.01 Opinion N.S. Bendre has a secure and ready clientele for good to great works of art. The rarity of early high-quality works is far greater than the more popular later works in the ‘pointillist’ style during the 1980s. Soon a differential will be established in the pricing on this front, though it may take a few more sales for the institutions to realise that it is now too late to acquire high- quality works of the 1940-50s.