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

OSIAN ’ s–CONNOISSEURS OF ART 34 9 Sass BRUNNER [1889-1950/ b . Nagykanzia, Hungary] Near To Amarnath Cave S/d in English l.r. & titled l.l. Oil on canvas, 1940 46.9 x 60.5 cm (18.5 x 23.8 in) Provenance Erstwhile Royal Family of Masuda Rs. 600,000 – 700,000 $ 12,950 – 15,100 £ 7,100 – 8,275 ‘The breathcatching sights of the eternal snows, the unexpected clouds and mists that enwrapped us, the unforgettable sunrise and sunset over the Kanchenchunga, all these have remained amongst the greatest impressions of our lives. I shall never forget the graceful lines of the snowpeaks silhouetting the sky and my mother tirelessly painting them.’ – Elisabeth Brunner, rpt. in Dreams & Visions: An Exhibition of Paintings by Elizabeth Sass Brunner & Elizabeth Brunner. New Delhi: IGNCA 2000; p50. ‘In representing philosophical and spiritual ideas, she (Sass Brunner) never forgets the intimate association of nature and man... she laid more emphasis on the delineation of the spiritual essence, the idealized intrinsic vision, the mental creation, than on copying the physical features exactly as they appear to the eye... Sass Brunner has consciously seen the “open” spaces and the pattern they form to complement the “close” spaces, or the forms of the object, to provide a visual thrill, a mesmerising effect in a mosaic of light/dark patches of colour. In her mountainscapes, bluffs and cliffs of different shapes and playful cloud forms are organized in a cohesive manner, disappearing here and re-appearing there. These forms of nature gradually and magically diminish in size towards the distance, in a connected manner’ – Prof. P.N. Mago, rpt. in op. cit. ; pp11-12.