Osian's Auction Catalogue The Masterpieces Series | March 2010

56 27 h.A. g Ade (1917 – 2001) Donkeys Watercolour on paper, c.1948 Signed in English ‘Gade’ l.l. Inscribed in English ‘Donkeys’ on verso 14.1 x 13.6 in (36.0 x 34.5 cm) “He came into contact with a band of young, zealous artists, brimming with new ideas and expressions and possessed by a restless, searching mind. They together founded the Progressive Artists’ Group in 1947. His work matured and already there were traces of unmistakable originality. Nature was still the starting point, but Gade had begun transform his visual experience in the crucible of his imagination. He worked at this stage mostly in water colours, rather like Provenance Dhoomimal Gallery Collection INR 480,000 – 720,000 US$ 10,000 – 15,000 tempera and occasionally in the impasto technique. It was as a colourist that he made his mark. There was considerable play in his handling of colours and much promise. But, on the whole, the conception had not yet freed itself from naturalistic tendencies.- S. A. Krishnan, Gade , Sadanga, New Delhi, 1961, p.4.