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

OSIAN ’ s–CONNOISSEURS OF ART 32 7 Baburao PAINTER [1890-1954/ b . Kolhapur, Maharashtra] Bajirao & Begum Mastani Signed in Devanagiri, l.r. Oil on canvas, c.1925 99.0 x 73.5 cm (39.0 x 28.9 in) Rs. 600,000 – 700,000 $ 12,950 – 15,100 £ 7,100 – 8,275 The text inscribed on the painting is translated as follows: “ Great people collected priceless gems, but these very jewels became the cause of their misery and downfall. Shree Dattaji purchased a beautiful elephant costing Rs.9000 for himself which proved fatal for him. His Highness Bajirao Peshwa was bestowed with lady gem from King Chhatrasal, but he died an ‘immature death’ due to in-family troubles, rivalries and outside problems. (Sardesai) – Chapter on Bundelkhand.” “Save the prestige of Bundelas, who are losing the baaji.” ‘Baburao Painter of Kolhapur was a self-made artist endowed with great genius. Like Leonardo da Vinci he was multi-faceted and showed an aptitude for painting, sculpture, film- production, photography and mechanical engineering. He evolved his own style of portraiture observing European paintings in the collections of the museums in Aundh, Bombay and Baroda. He preferred the romantic approach of the Pre- Raphaelite painters of nineteenth century England.’ – Baburao Sadwelkar, rpt. in Story Of A Hundred Years: The Bombay Art Society 1888-1988. ‘Taught himself to paint (hence his name) and sculpt in academic art school style. He and his artist cousin Anandrao Painter were, between 1910 and 1916, the leading painters of stage backdrops in Western India... they turned to cinema first as exhibitors (Shivaji theatre, Kolhapur) while trying to assemble their own camera... With financial support from local nobility, started Maharashtra Film with Seeta Swayamvar... Practised cinema as a continuation of earlier craft traditions, seen as a contribution to Swadeshi... Developed sophisticated art direction and shooting techniques, e.g. the use of backdrops in red and yellow to register the right shades of grey on film, the manufacture of primitive filters with tinted glass, the first use of indoor electric lighting with generators, use of fades, etc. Also used costume design aand art direction to relate to characters’ spaces, reserving elaborate sets and design for fantasy films. Helped codify the mythological and historical as film genres.’ – A. Rajadhyaksha & P. Willemen (eds.), rpt. in Encyclopaedia of Indian Cinema. New Delhi: OUP & BFI 1994-5; p157.