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

163 THE MASTERPIECES & MUSEUM-QUALITY SERIES 119 Amit AMBALAL [b . 1943, Ahmedabad, Gujarat] Short Sighted Connoisseurs Acrylic on canvas, 1998 91.0 x 121.0 cm (38.8 x 47.6 in) Rs. 225,000 – 300,000 $ 4,850 – 6,500 £ 2,675 – 3,550 ‘What I like best about Amit’s paintings is that there are no great philosophies or greater subjects, these are actually very simple, day to day happenings, developed into a sort of unexplained story of the human situation. But it is through metaphors, where you can see his subtle comments on society and the happenings around him. It could have gone unnoticed, but then Amit captures them, freezes them in his sketch book or just allows them to scamper in his thoughts till he uses them in his paintings…You get the impression that he allows his mind to weave images like an outsider and then enters the painted space and dictates his own terms, almost froilicking with his characters as he composes them and then leaves, remaining strangely connected to them. In many ways his work still retains the qualities of a child’s world, of tigers, lions, elephants, peacocks, dogs, and ofcourse the cows who can fly over the moon while doing their own thing. e says; I am just trying to catch the moment when magic enters and reality departs.’ – Esther David, rpt. in Amit Ambalal. Sakshi Gallery 2003-2004 ExC.