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

85 MASTERPIECES & MUSEUM-QUALITY III 34 SANAT KAR (b.1935 / Calcutta, West Bengal) Radha in Moonlight S/d in English l.r. Oil on canvas, 1963 126.1 x 87.1 cm (49.6 x 34.3 in) Slight cracking of paint in the t.l. and t.r. sections of the canvas Rs. 250,000 – 325,000 US$ 5,550 – 7,200 GB£ 3,050 – 3,950 OSIANs S.I.R. ANALYSIS [1997-2002] Present Estimate 146.95 Previous High 146.07 [HT.Mum/15.11.97] Previous Average 115.28 Auction Average 289.84 Opinion Significantly underpriced. Like many of the Bengal & South India-based artists, Sanat Kar fares poorly in comparison to the Mumbai & Delhi-based artists of his generation and artistic calibre. For such a rare high quality work as Lot 34 , his price estimate S.I.R. remains virtually unchanged from his 1997 value, when his Ikebana Series work on paper was sold in HEART’s inaugural auction. “ Line takes us to rhythm – so linearity infuses a sort of subdued rhythmic structure in all my work. While textured mute colours throb with a silent vibrancy transcending the positives and merging into the negative spaces within the format taking the total to the domain of a poignant solitude – a kind of predicament which every human has to face.” (Sanat Kar, rpt. in Temperas, EXC . Chitrakoot Art Gallery 2000.) “ Back in the fifties and sixties, Sanat Kar, primarily a painter doing oils on canvas, showed an affinity towards the Impressionists. The paintings of this period were somewhat lyrical, exuding a fragrance of Keatsian thought (‘A thing of beauty is a joy forever’) and thus revealing a romantic sensibility. In this formative stage, he was attracted by the forms of Van Gogh. The expression of intense passion for an anguished beauty, as revealed in the works of this post-Impressionist painter has left an imprint on Kar’s development. This may be a source of the deep- rooted inwardness and profound compassion in all his expressions, later on.” (Mrinal Ghosh, in ‘Sanat Kar – From Paintings, Prints to Bronzes’, rpt. in Sanat Kar – A Retrospective of Bronzes and Prints EXC . Birla Academy of Art & Culture 2002.)