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

31 9 A.R. Chughtai (1897 – 1975) Gusain Tulsidas Signed in Urdu ‘Chughtai’ l.l. Written on verso in Devnagari ‘TulsiDas Ganga Snan Ko Brahm Muhurt Mein Ja Rahe’ Watercolour and wash on paper, 1930 14.5 x 9.5 in (36.9 x 24.2 cm) INR 2,800,000 – 3,200,000 USD 70,000 – 80,000 10 Ustad Allah Bukhsh (1895 – 1978) Gopi’s Dakshana to Krishna S/d in English ‘allahbux 1932’ l.r. ‘Museum tested by Zubair Ahmed Madani National Museum of Pakistan 01/2008’ written on fold over edge Oil on canvas, 1932 29.8 x 41.1 in (75.7 x 104.4 cm) INR 3,600,000 – 4,800,000 USD 90,000 – 120,000 ‘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 in The Predecessors 1998, p105-116. ‘Inspired by Abanindranath and his Neo-Bengal School, Chugtai trained under him in Calcutta. For the appreciation of European art he traveled around Europe during 1927-31… Gusain Tulsidas done in gouache on paper, is a characteristic expression of his composite cultural heritage…In this painting, the typical twilight haze of the Bengal School forms the chromatic ambience of the fifteenth century poet Tulsidas whose Ramcharitmanas his own Awadhi version of the Ramayana flooded the common masses in the whole of Uttarakhand with the cult of Bhakti. With silvery matted hair and beard, the poet has the look of a peripatetic sanyasin , who carries the traditional props of a tall staff and a support for the left hand when seated for long meditation. After long peregrination, in wooded sandals he stands in ankle deep water for his evening ablutions. The verticality of his body and the fine treatment of the drapery folds form a parallel to the tall stick, and both play up the consistent horizontality of the brushwork in the background.’ – Santo Dutta rpt. in Manifestations II: Indian Art in the 20 th Century, Delhi Art Gallery ExC 2004; p74.