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

s huvaPRassana b. 30 April 1947 Illusion series Oil on paper, 1974 S/d in English ‘SHUVA 74’ l.l. 23.5 x 16.5 in (59.7 x 41.9 cm) Condition Edges slightly frayed at top and lower edges Provenance Private Collection, New Delhi ` 400,000 – 600,000 US$ 8,000 – 12,000 126 1780 1800 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1910 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1980 1990 1995 2000 2005 “It was in 1973 that Shuvaprassana had his first exposure to the West. Dr. Rudi Kratel, a Director of the World Health Organisation, Geneva, was visiting India. He came to Calcutta and was shown some of Shuva’s works by Dr Ashok Ganguly (Chairman of Hindustan Lever Ltd.), who had some of Shuva’s paintings in his own collection. Kratel not only purchased two of his paintings - Fallen and Mute Silence - but also offered him his first exhibition abroad. Something in the paintings, perhaps the stark reality and the compassion, touched a chord in Kratel, brought up on German Expressionist art. He owned a gallery inGeneva, Les Hirondelles, and Shuva had his first solo exhibition in Geneva in 1974. Almost all his paintings were sold out...From Les Hirondelles, one thing led to another and he had a one-man exhibition in Gallery Denberg, Geneva. The following year, 1975, he had another one-man exhibition in Gallery Atlantis, Aix-en- Provenance, in the South of France... The mid-seventies were bloom-time for Shuvaprassana, not only in his professional life but in his personal life as well. A young student Shipra Ghose had come to him with a letter from a common acquaintance. ...For Shuva it was love at first sight. He almost proposed to her on the first day. Shipra was slower - she took a week, an agonizing week for Shuva to make up her mind.” Mukherjee, Chitrotpala [1999]. Shuvaprasanna - Vision: Reality & Beyond. New Delhi: Art Indus; pp.24-25. Illustrative Reference Bandopadhyay, Samik [1979 (No. 27)]. Shuvaprassana - Image and Symbol. New Delhi: [Essay.JOU] Lalit Kala Contemporary; pp.23-25 [Illusion Series] 267 266 Creative India BENGAL | Calcutta and Modernism 1960 – 1995