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

OSIAN ’ s–CONNOISSEURS OF ART 36 11 Bireshwar SEN [1897-1974/ b . Calcutta, West Bengal] a. Silent Prayer, 1968 b. Billowing Hills, 1968 c. Kulu Dawn, 1970 d. Wind & the Sun, 1971 Each signed in English & inscribed on verso on each Watercolour on cardpaper Each / Average 6.0 x 9.2 cm (2.4 x 3.6 in) Rs. 300,000 – 400,000 $ 6,500 – 8,650 £ 3,550 – 4,725 ‘The work of Bireshwar Sen in the Himalayan phase, bears the transparent impress of Nicholas Roerich…. While Roerich had signalised their majesty in blazing colour harmonies, Bireshwar Sen functioned in terrible restraint, sometimes in very diminutive pictures, hardly larger than a match box, at which he worked with infinite patience to secure microscopic tone values…. Golden peaks amidst azure hills, with dark pines fringing a meandering rivulet... dissolving snow slipping down a mountain- side… gentle colour harmonies in translucent tints of gold, greyish green and turquoise blue….’ P.R. Ramachandra Rao, rpt. in Modern Indian Painting. Madras 1953; pp23-4. a ‘He devoted his ripening talents exclusively to the glory of the Himalayas which became his spiritual home…From amongst Hindu artists, he is perhaps the only one who has successfully resisted the love of romanticism and mythology. Though he is a clear thinker and a rationalist yet his pictures possess a mystical air and convey sentiments of a true lover of nature. In Bireshwar Sen, India has found the finest interpreter of the grandeur, mystery and beauty of her Himalayan mountains.’ – M.S.Randhawa rpt in Rooplekha XX No.2 , 1948-49; pp131-2