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

n ikhil b iswas 22 April 1930 – 10 November 1966 Untitled Gouache on paper, 1956 S/d in English ‘Nikhil 56’ l.r. 11.0 x 14.9 in (27.9 x 37.9 cm) Condition Minor paint loss at few places, minor tear t.c. Provenance Acquired from the family of Nikhil Biswas ` 240,000 – 360,000 US$ 4,800 – 7,200 103 1780 1800 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1910 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1980 1990 1995 2000 2005 “In 1953 I came home and found her in bed. The flower of my heart roused her red flaming inside. The sun on the hilltop burning yellow and bright. Yonder the big white roses with sharp odour blows through the window. I found nobody talking or walking, no bird moved, except the springly wind whistled outside. A faint dim light played outside the room, where in bed I found the blooming apple slightly reddish half closed in a sharp line of the cluster of tired clothes. The curve of the river, the faintly curving of misty darkness invited my embrace and fire. She (awoke) from her slumber, her teeth and lips jumped on the paining lips of mine. Where the fire from flesh to flesh (is) transmitted there I am sun, the boiling sun on a mystic yellow field. (after reading this line one may wonder whether Nikhil saw sexual suggestions in Vincent Van Gogh’s wheatfield!) - The memory melts in my mind while I cast bright the surprise experience with three women, the sun and the whistling youth.’ He is describing love making with one woman. Where do ‘three women’ come from? On 15th January, he has delineated a man and woman caressing each other. At the bottom of the page, there is a simple but illuminating comment from him: ‘A simple line or complex lines. The simple (line) express the contour mount and the nervous quality of flesh and blood. The complex lines also express the same, but also the particular set of illusion of line and space. Simple line cannot be in the minimum, but complex lines also express the same, but also the particular set of illusion of line and space. Simple line cannot be in the minimum, but complex lines could extract the atmospheric effect in the minimum.’” [Sarkar, Sandip [2010]. The Passion of Nikhil Biswas. Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing for Prashant Tulysan; pp.185-191] 229 228 Creative India BENGAL | Nikhil Biswas, Arun Bose, Prokash Karmakar, Shyamal Dutta Ray & Ganesh Pyne