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

THE MASTERPIECES & MUSEUM-QUALITY SERIES 55 28 Krishna Hawlaji ARA [1913-1985/ b .Bolarum, Andhra Pradesh] Nude Signed in English l.l. Watercolour on paper, c.1958 74.5 x 55.0 cm (29.3 x 21.7 in) Rs. 500,000 – 600,000 $ 10,800 – 12,950 £ 5,925 – 7,100 ‘What was the raison d’etre for Ara nudes? He drew from several sources but his commitment was to modernism and everything was grist to the mill of painterly language. He was not involved with the anatomy of the figure nor with forms of realism. He was seeking a means of extending his language in colour, form and composition and the nudes became an important component of this. Moving away from the raw, jagged strokes of his still life paintings, he began to exercise a cool restraint, evenly spreading his colour on the canvas… One is reminded of Matisse, who, even while painting nudes, never lost sight of the pictorial construction of the picture space to which his subjects had to conform.’ – Yashodhara Dalmia rpt in The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives. New Delhi OUP 2001; p139.