Osian's Auction Catalogue The Masterpieces Series | March 2010

180 116 G ulaMMohaMMeD S heikh (b.1937) Alphabet Stories II Mixed media on paper (pasted on board), 2002-03 57.8 x 93.9 in (147.0 x 238.7 cm) Provenance THE OSIAN’s COLLECTION. INR 3,600,000 – 5,400,000 US$ 75,000 – 112,500 Gulammohammad Sheikh has been largely inspired by the Sufi saint Kabir and his philosophy since his childhood.”Kabir has been a seminal figure from the period in which he lived up to the present day. People live with his thoughts and words ... he was not a preacher and spoke against sects. If people have made a sect out of Kabir, it is not of his making”. The premise of Kabir remained with him and the artist has created a relationship between his own images and Kabir’s words. His ‘Alphabet Series’ is based on his relationship with Kabir. “Occasionally, I place an image upon another image to depict a journey of the spirit on the landscape of the face. There is mysticism and, at the same time, the device of reversal is used in an almost surrealist mode, quizzical and explosive,” (Interview with Kavita Singh, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2001). The concept of conversation, which rules his wok creates much of its vibrancy.