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

1780 1800 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1910 1920 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 2000 n andalal B ose 3 December 1882 – 16 April 1966 Shiva Drinking the World Poison Tempera on silk, nd ( c. 1936) 30.2 x 22.6 in (75.5 x 56.6 cm) Condition Good, previously restored in Kolkata, 2008. The support of silk has been lined with hand-made paper and some filling in of paint loss has been completed along with retouching at some places. Provenance Originally from the Family Collection of Prof. Ordhendra C. Ganguly, eminent scholar, editor of Rupam and close friend of Shri Nandalal Bose. The painting was acquired directly from the artist. Thereafter, handed down after marriage to Rani of Gobardanga, who was the daughter of Prof. Ordhendra C. Ganguly. ` 6,000,000 – 9,000,000 US$ 120,000 – 180,000 National Art Treasure Non-Exportable Item 34 Lot 34 is the third version of the iconic painting ‘Shiva Drinking the World Poison’ painted by Nandalal Bose, from the Family Collection of Prof. Ordhendra C. Ganguly. A Very important Painting This iconic painting of Indian modern art, representing the nationalistic fever of the times hand in hand with the return of the artistic confidence in one’s own civilization and artistic traditions was acquired directly by Prof. O.C. Ganguly from the artist. The relationship of the two, particularly concerning their ongoing dialogue with ‘Shiva Drinking the World Poison’ (Version1) had begun in the mid 1910s and when O.C. Ganguly established Rupam, the painting was given serious consideration in 1921. After 1932 Nandalal Bose, who had by now been over a decade as Head of Kala Bhavan at Rabindranath Tagore’s Visva Bharti University (at Santiniketan), and had significantly changed his artistic styles and themes, was egged on, persuaded or had unilaterally decided himself, that it was important for him to return to some of the great works he had completed during his Bengal School days with Abanindranath Tagore. Those days of a more explicit nationalistic frame of mind, had been diluted by Santiniketan’s focus on a different artistic originality, respect for the pan-Asian traditions and a deep love for nature. “I was told that O.C. Ganguly’s brother would taunt Nandalal at times about how he has forgotten his earlier painting style, that he was no longer the Nandalal who could paint Shiva in that same way. Even Abanindranath did once mention something similar, some article did appear on this issue, but I cannot pin point the date...This painting (Lot 34) had been hanging in the house since much before Independence, and I remember in the 1960s people like Bishnu Dey, Bireshwar Sen, Mukul Dey, Mulk Raj Anand, Ashok Chatterjee (s/o Ramanand Chatterjee, founder of Modern Review), and many others coming and discussing art at home, with many paintings all around, but Nandalal’s Shiva Drinking the World Poison and a work on Chandragupta Maurya, also a Penance of Parvati, where she is submerged in water up to her neck, were clearly remembered. In those days, the artists, such as Nandalal were not given that kind of respect by the general public or collectors as today, only Gaganendranath Tagore was truly respected by all.” [Anujit Ganguly, grandson of Prof. O.C. Ganguly, in conversation with Neville Tuli, 3 November 2011]