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

g anesh P yne b. 11 June 1937 Untitled Pen & ink on paper, 1970 9.0 x 9.9 in (22.2 x 24.7 cm) Provenance A page from the artist’s diary which was acquired by Chitrakoot Art Gallery ` 200,000 – 300,000 US$ 4,000 – 6,000 116 1780 1800 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1910 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1980 1990 1995 2000 2005 “Generally speaking I use drawings as preliminary sketches for my paintings. Drawing of line upon line gradually takes the form of a full statement. It is at this stage that the work reaches the state of a work of art. Before I applied myself to painting, for a few years I devoted myself wholly to drawings, mainly in line and monochrome wash. These helped me clarify my concept of pictorial structure, composition and texture. Subsequently I also became conscious of the characteristic features of my own drawings. I have now come to the conclusion that the character of a drawing manifests itself best in black and white and that the effect of mass or tone should be rendered in lines only. Line is indeed the life of a drawing, because it is a fact that an artist thinks in terms of lines and not words. He can identify his image or theme from a collection of lines. He feels tempted to use colour to make the drawing attractive and to enhance its pictorial and textural qualities. I do sometimes resort to this manner but that is truly the character of the painting not drawing. The quality of line that we can create from the tip of a metal nib surpasses that which is made with the help of any other tool. This is the reason why I prefer to work in pen and ink.” [Ganesh Pyne, rpt. In Chatterjee, Ram [Ed.] [1987]. Indian Drawing Today 1987. Bombay: Jehangir Art Gallery Publications; p.34] 247 246 Creative India BENGAL | Nikhil Biswas, Arun Bose, Prokash Karmakar, Shyamal Dutta Ray & Ganesh Pyne