Osian's Auction Catalogue Indian Modern and Contemporary Art | January 2008

32 Artist of Focus Ustad Allah Bukhsh 11 Ustad Allah Bukhsh (1895 - 1978) Krishna Series Oil on board, early 1930s 22.0 x 13.8 in (56.0 x 35.0 cm) Provenance Private Collection, Mumbai Condition Flaking of paint layer at one place t.r., tiny cracks visible on close observation INR 1,600,000 – 2,000,000 USD 40,000 – 50,000 Literary Reference Similar series illustrated in: Naqvi, Akbar. Image and Identity: Fifty Years of Painting & Sculpture in Pakistan . Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1998. p.113. Similar images in: Osians. Forty Masterpieces 20 th Century Painting and Drawing from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh & Sri Lanka. Mumbai 27 March 2003. Lot Nos. 4 & 5. ‘The Ustad’s reputation was built on his Hindu mythological subjects in the grand manner of history painting…he painted Hindu religious myth as the historical consciousness of India… according to Khurshid Ahmed, the Ustad painted mythological pictures of Krishna and his gopis in the early years of his life. This made him famous in India as the ‘Krishna Artist’. Akbar Naqvi rpt. Image and Identity: Fifty Years of Painting & Sculpture in Pakistan . Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1998. pp. 105-116. 12 Ustad Allah Bukhsh (1895 - 1978) Untitled S/d in English ‘Allah Bux 1934’ l.r. Gouache on paper, 1934 14.0 x 10.0 in (35.5 x 25.5 cm) INR 600,000 – 750,000 USD 15,000 – 18,750 13 Ustad Allah Bukhsh (1895 - 1978) Untitled S/d in English ‘Allah Bux 1945’ l.r. Watercolour, pencil and pastel on paper, 1945 18.6 x 13.4 in (47.2 x 34.0 cm) INR 600,000 – 750,000 USD 15,000 – 18,750