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

n ikhil b iswas 22 April 1930 – 10 November 1966 Clown Series Ink on brown rolling & packing paper, c. 1960 S/d in English ‘Nikhil…’ t.r. 51.9 x 42.9 in (131.5 x 109.0 cm) Condition Good, previously restored (support lined on paper, filling and retouching done at some places) Provenance Acquired from the family of Nikhil Biswas ` 1,000,000 – 1,500,000 US$ 20,000 – 30,000 104 1780 1800 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1910 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 c.1960 1965 1970 1980 1990 1995 2000 2005 “Nikhil excelled in black and white drawings and monochrome paintings done on white and brown paper. In his diaries, he himself speaks of what he intends to do. His main concerns are to find out the relationship of line to space and measure the creative value from the totality of the composition...the pictorial bonding and spatial interludes seem to keep him preoccupied...empty gaps are integrated into the formal set-up. In many instances, the vacant area of the composition apparently points to the insignificance and vulnerability of the characters in the tragedy. An environmental emptiness is apparently ready to pounce and devour them... Christ figures alternated with clown figures, the latter not funny at all but expressive of a sense of awareness or a sardonic humour.” [Sarkar, Sandip [2010]. The Passion of Nikhil Biswas. Ahmedabad: Mapin Publishing for Prashant Tulysan; pp.241-5] “I am like the clown - a misfit in society” [Nikhil Biswas] 231 230 Creative India BENGAL | Nikhil Biswas, Arun Bose, Prokash Karmakar, Shyamal Dutta Ray & Ganesh Pyne