Osian's Auction Catalogue ABC Series III | March 2007

ABC Series III 96 99 SUNIL DAS (b.1939) Untitled S/d in English ‘Sunil Das 75’ l.r. Pen and ink on paper, 1975 20.1 x 29.7 in (51.0 x 75.5 cm) Condition Minor tears at the centre. INR 500,000 – 625,000 USD 11,300 – 14,100 100 SUNIL DAS (b.1939) Confrontation VII S/d in English ‘Sunil 94’ t.r. Oil on canvas, 1994 68.5 x 57.1 in (174.0 x 145.0 cm) Condition Minor aking at the lower edge. INR 1,600,000 – 2,000,000 USD 36,100 – 45,150 ‘Back when I was another youth aspiring to be an artist, I would draw horses. I had drawn thousands of horses. Spent days at the stables, shared the syces’ meals. To perfect my drawing skills. Horses have a dyanism about them, a restlessness so different from the monochromatic life all around. Capturing a stallion on paper was difcult, for it never stood still.’ – Sunil Das rpt. in Sunil Das Recent Drawings CIMA Gallery 1994; ExC. ‘They have their heads variously tilted, necks tensely stretched, arched or towered, legs folded, ung or collected in a bunch, often wearing a dark sinister visage with dreadful eyes, ared nostrils and gaping mouths. Sinewy lines, sweep, writhe and curve from hooves to croups, anks to forelegs and frommanes to tails, exploring the contours of both form and spirit. The speedy, spontaneous strokes in charcoal never fail to communicate the entire gamut of the artist’s perceptions about horses, their robustness and raw vitality, their majesty and mystique, the strange drama of their impetuous movements and their alien, awesome animal being.’ Manasij Majumdar, rpt. in The Telegraph , 17 August 1988. ‘I have always been haunted by the mysterious-looking women who frequently appear in Sunil’s canvases. Their eyes shine like two gems from the innite darkness of their sockets. Their faces painted in white against a white background, framed by dark owing hairs (sic) and their bodies endowed with all the attributes of the female gure, immediately capture the viewer’s attention and leave an indelible impression upon his mind.’ – Paritosh Sen rpt. in Sunil Das In Retrospect 1957-2003 ITC Hotel Sonar Bangla Sheraton &Towers, Kolkata ExC.