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

162 OSIAN ’ s–CONNOISSEURS OF ART 118 Amit AMBALAL [b . 1943, Ahmedabad, Gujarat] Hon. Fulchand M.P. Oil on canvas, 1986 58.0 x 69.0 cm (22.8 x 27.2 in) Rs. 175,000 – 250,000 $ 3,800 – 5,400 £ 2,075 – 2,950 ‘Against brilliant and straightforward backdrops, self-satisfied, complacent, lumpish figures people Ambadal’s canvases. They finger fat cigars, sport broad ties, are weighed down by heavy garlands and occupy elaborately carved and well-stuffed ancestral chairs. These trappings and props almost propel Ambalal’s forms into the realm of caricature, drawing upon the essence of prototypes. What makes them different however is the ambiguity that surround these simplified figures. Are they industrialists? Politicians? Pundits? It does not matter. Whatever their occupation, they share a preoccupation with themselves and their importance. “These canvases are not angry statements”, he says. They are instead a gentle reprimand; presented in a light, gossipy manner with a touch of humour and tolerance.’ – Shirin H.Mehta, Bombay 1986, rtp.