Osian's Auction Catalogue The Masterpieces and Museum Quality Series | October 2004

136 OSIAN ’ s–CONNOISSEURS OF ART 96 AMBADAS [b . 1922, Akola, Maharashtra] Untitled Signed in Devanagari, l.l. Watercolour on paper, 1966 34.5 x 61.5 cm (13.6 x 24.2 in) Rs. 150,000 – 225,000 $ 3,250 – 4,850 £ 1,775 – 2,675 ‘There is no beginning and no end to an Ambadas painting, no particular point of departure and no particular point of arrival, the canvas invoking the eternal flux of the universe outside it and palpitating with a cosmic move- ment and passage within the frame, the viewer simultaneously everywhere and yet standing in front of the canvas, thrown into a state of vertigo and then restored to one of serenity – placed, as it were, within the very center of a vortex. Colour and line and stroke weaving a fabric and dis- solving it in liquid transparency, ever-rising crescendos of sounds being shattered by the stillness of the void, flashing, meander- ing, moving with the speed of thought, traversing light-years in a moment of still contempla- tion.’ – J. Swaminathan, rpt. in Ambadas: Dhoomimal Gallery/ Gallery Chemould 1987 ExC. 97 RAMKUMAR [b .1924, Simla, Himachal Pradesh] Untitled S/d in Devanagari l.r. Oil on canvas, 1969 100.0 x 80.0 cm (39.4 x 31.5 in) Rs. 1,500,000 – 2,000,000 $ 32,400 – 43,200 £ 17,750 – 23,675 ‘Ram Kumar’s paintings are built of structural parts, wedges, segments, angular drifts of paint which, while they have a direc- tional movement, and suggest a sweeping view, cohere as a fabric of colour. This design is certain and explicit. So is the colour with its juxtaposed intensities and its nuances of texture. The browns, greys and blues, the occasional green or orange are areas of positive sensation. They are also premises of suggestion – indica- tive of landforms, stretches of water and sky, passage of clouds, valley, ranges of hills, qualities of light. Bonded together and active as painting they project, when seen in consonance and as a concert of tones, a palpable mood.’ – Richard Bartholomew, rpt. in Art Heritage Journal 4, 1984-85; p97.