Osian's Auction Catalogue Select Masterpieces of Indian Modern and Contemporary Art | June 2009

17 2 Ambadas (b.1922) Commotion Crystalised series Oil on canvas, 1964 35.1 x 35.2 in (89.0 x 89.2 cm) Condition Previously restored, stable cracks present. Loss of paint on t.l. corner. INR 1,000,000 – 1,250,000 USD 20,830 – 26,040 “ Art to me is a happening and performance – an instant plunging, flirting and merging with life with being and becoming. All that is there on the canvas is but a celebration…The feeling of unlimitedness envelopes – something mystical in a sense. Like a dancer who performs not for herself but for the spectator. The dancer becomes the spectator and the dance… later as a painter, I became aware of everything: nature, moving innately and rising towards its optimal expression. This phenomenon, which comprises the infinite order of the cosmic whole, was an inspiration to me as it burst upon me. It motivated my experiences and understanding of art… Most art, whether classical, academic or traditional remain bound up to a dualistic notion, reducing itself to a myth of subject and object. The real escapes, for it is seen as flux, without order… For a number of artists, the main preoccupation is to get past the surface reality into ‘the Real’ which is pure and formless.” Ambadas, November 1996; reprinted in Chemould ExC. 1998.