Osian's Auction Catalogue The Masterpieces Series | March 2010

139 The Masterpieces SerieS 87 G aneSh P yne (b.1937) Death Tempera on canvas, 1975 S/d in Bengali ‘Ganesh Pyne 75’ l.r. 7.2 x 17.6 in (18.3 x 44.7 cm) Provenance THE OSIAN’s COLLECTION INR 3,000,000 – 4,500,000 US$ 62,500 – 93,750 Since childhood, Death has fascinated oneself, like millions before. From the pure philosophical thoughts with which we all instigate the awe, to the embrace of personal loss to the realization of one’s own fragility to the growing empathy at the loss of others to the helpless anger against the associated violence to the daily strength to help transform the violence to the re-emerging calm of a different childhood – death recycles minute on minute within ourselves, redefining us daily, re-motivating our actions and will, as we slowly inch towards clarity. However, for most, mere moments of personal fear are considered enough, amid the growing indifference towards the loss of others, numbed by a media fed on violence and the documentation of Death. Death swiftly becomes a quiet background to be faced one distant day, rather than to embrace it into daily life. Naturally, the underbelly of Death is not one any of us wish to embrace daily. Death should be but a stranger who loses his way, and by surprise knocks on our door, for but a moment of conversation. No long drawn out dialogues or relationships are sought, no tortured time which drags us along the underbelly, feigning some last minute realizations. Nevertheless, viewing the imagery of some of the most talented minds, as they visualize Death and its related violence and non violence, can be a fascinating pastime. The energy that is derived from such can only be positive, as art is first and foremost one of the greatest non violent acts of creativity. DEATH: DEEP EMBRACE FROM A DISTANCE Neville Tuli Further, irrespective of the imagery presented, violent or loving, the impact will be positive, it can only energize the mind and eye, to create, to build. Understanding this inherent nature of art, makes one realize there is no line to be drawn when viewing art, nothing is objectionable, nothing is negative, nothing is disrespectful, only the insecure mind and fearful wish to draw lines. Yet we all must, and do ‘draw lines’. The key is in the aspiration of not wishing to… To close the mind to seeing an image is intellectual cowardice, rooted in ignorance, leading to more brutal ignorance. We in India, one of the greatest civilizations with centuries of the most powerful visual traditions, today shy away from tackling the difficult artistic and cultural images. We have forgotten our intellectual responsibility of viewing the knowledge inherent in the image. We do not know how to read the image as a piece of text. We have hidden under the excuse that our people are not tutored enough, not knowledgeable enough to view for themselves, so we hide behind many censored lines, leading to greater fear, a greater sense of offensiveness, soon everyone is offended by everything, there is no end to it, there is no meaningful image which will not offend someone somewhere. The key is to build up a culture of no lines, one rooted in that great philosophical fearlessness. We at Osian’s have always striven towards taking such forward.