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

55 30 K.G. Subramanyan (b.1924) In the Calcutta Alleys Signed in tamil, l.l. Mixed media on glass, c. 1989 20.0 x 17.9 in (51.0 x 45.5 cm) INR 1,600,000 – 2,000,000 USD 40,000 – 50,000 31 K.G. Subramanyan (b.1924) Massacre of the Innocents Signed in tamil, l.l. Acrylic on canvas, 2002 54.0 x 54.0 in (137.5 x 137.5 cm) INR 4,000,000 – 4,800,000 USD 100,000 – 120,000 ‘In his reverse-paintings on glass and acrylic sheets, his second major innovation after the terracotta reliefs, he returns to the common place through a retake on the popular genre of traditional glass painting. They are his ‘bazaar paintings,’ images of the floating world caught in a golden mirror that gives them a mock preciousness. High-keyed and earthy they suggest something between a pin-up and an icon. The earlier ones recall traditional glass paintings more closely in theme and appearance; but more in the spirit of ironic quotation. In the later reverse paintings the themes and techniques are more varied and less conventional. In them the iconic expands into tableaux, fables and metaphors and he takes a tongue in cheek look at our foibles and realities.’ – R.Siva Kumar rpt. In K.G.Subramanyan: A Retrospective . NGMA 2003; p44.