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

61 37 Avinash Chandra (1931 – 1991) Symbols S/d in English ‘Avinash 60’, l.r Oil on canvas, 1960 28.0 x 35.8 in (71.1 x 91.4 cm) INR 1,600,000 – 2,000,000 USD 40,000 – 50,000 38 Avinash Chandra (1931 – 1991) Untitled S/d in English ‘Avinash 69’, l.c. Mixed media on paper, 1969 15.0 x 75.0 in (38.1 x 190.5 cm) INR 2,400,000 – 3,200,000 USD 60,000 – 80,000 ‘In Chandra’s case, the pattern of a particular painting evolves in much the way a doodle evolves, or the way in which colours are used to distinguish elements from one another. By trial and intuition – and with a very spontaneous hand – there evolves a web of colour and line which welds together the ambiguity of his images. Although one might at first interpret this patterning as a self-conscious attempt to slur over the conventional distinctions implicit in Western painting between figuration and non-figuration…the “play” of the pattern comes first; there is never any particular consciousness of geometry, and never any attempt to exclude an image for the sake of ‘pure” pictorial values.’ - G.M.Butcher rpt. in Avinash Chandra Molton Gallery London ExC 1960.