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

159 THE MASTERPIECES & MUSEUM-QUALITY SERIES 115 Bhabesh Chandra SANYAL [ 1904-2002/ b . Dibrugarh, Assam] Mask And Man II S/d in English l.r. & verso Oil on canvas, 1971 74.2 x 56.6 cm (29.2 x 22.3 in) Rs. 600,000 – 700,000 $ 12,950 – 15,100 £ 7,100 – 8,275 116 Krishen KHANNA [b . 1925, Lyallpur, present-day Pakistan] Buffalos S/d in English on verso Oil on canvas, 1969 33.2 x 99.3 cm (13.1 x 39.1 in) Rs. 175,000 – 250,000 $ 3,800 – 5,400 £ 2,075 – 2,950 ‘Sanyal is a master in suggesting forms without much detail and creating an effect which is serene and pleasant. There is a balance of form and mood in the pictorial compactness of his pictures, at times fused with a subtle sense of humour. His self- portraits reveal the impressions of his own self – highly humorous and witty.’ – Pran Nath Mago in Contemporary Art In India. New Delhi: NBT 2000; p144. ‘For me the area that has to be painted has to be cultivated like a piece of earth which will produce a rich yield. The image is withheld and not forced on the ground, it isn’t drawn out and then filled in. This would only produce a static and sterile image mechanically produced. The image, or the idea of the image is planted rather like a seed in prepared ground which is ready to receive it. It surfaces and often enough does not correspond to what I had thought it would be. It is then submerged again and then meets the same act of sinking and obliteration unless it resists in its rightness.’ – Krishen Khanna, rpt. in Krishen Khanna: A Critical Biography . New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery 2001; p171.