Osian's Auction Catalogue Creative India Series 1 Bengal | December 2011

p rosanTo r oy 25 April 1908 – 19 December 1973 Untitled Gouache on paper, Late 1940s Signed in Bengali, l.r. With seal 11.1 x 8.2 in (28.3 x 20.8 cm) Condition Previously restored. Minor paint loss in few places Provenance Private Mumbai-based collector. Acquired from Sotheby’s (London) in May 2008. ` 400,000 – 600,000 US$ 8,000 – 12,000 46 1780 1800 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1910 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 2000 “Prosanto Roy, the painter, is not vehemently provocative but indeed beckoning alluring…Be it a frolicsome, amusing squirrel, or glittering fireflies, or a lovelorn Basanta Bairagi, or be it an episode from an oriental past, or be it the people, preoccupations, places in old Calcutta, or be it even the sublime grandeur of the Himalayas as against his tormenting self reacting spontaneously to the horror, devastation and man made human crisis to Hiroshima, Prosanto Roy remained committed to award every one’s due. He was a perfectionist to the core right from a small sketch card meant for the young intruder from the next door to the extra large frames and scrolls that unroll. Roy had a preference for a restricted palette. But the application of the pigments was indeed refreshing with delicate brilliance, impeccability and untaintedness.” [Chakrabeti, Kanchan [Text] [1998]. Prosanto Roy: A Retrospective 14 November to 5 December 1998. Calcutta: [ExC.] Birla Academy of Art & Culture; np] Creative India BENGaL | Nandalal Bose & the Bengal school 109 108