Osian's Auction Catalogue The Osianama Series |February 2013

118 1962 “In many of his flower and vase studies, for example, the paint overflows from one object to another in a coagulated mass. It even begins to resemble a drip painting that streams of colour running down the surface. A vase with pink flowers, for instance, has jagged strokes of red and yellow…The white patches on the vases, which are intermittently blue and black, are reflected in the white of the table, which in turn echoes the white and red of the wall, bringing the entire surface into a unity…The hallmark of Ara’s still life works was the astonishing effect he created in white.” – Yashodhara Dalmia, rpt. in The Making of Modern Indian Art: the progressives , OUP, 2001, p133. ‘The best of his still-lifes charm and convince us by the simplicity of their design and the extreme sensitiveness of their colour…. Pots and bottles are set against various backgrounds, sometimes in a surrealist manner and achieve strangely human personalities. The drama of existence the very fact of being can evolve from the humblest of things in an Ara painting. Poetry is created without a prevalence of toads. It is in his still lifes that Ara’s talent fulfils itself. They do not follow the laboured manner of naturalistic object painting but are conceived and ordered spontaneously in elegant compositions – compositions where shapes, masses and colours are beautifully balanced.’– R von Leyden rpt. in Ara LKA 1965. 60 Bhupen Khakhar 10 March 1934 – 8 August 2003 Baroda Series Pen and ink on paper, 1962 Signed in English ‘Khakhar B.P.’ l.r. 10.4 x 8.3 in (26.5 x 21.0 cm) Provenance Private Mumbai-based Collection; acquired from Gallery Chemould ` 200,000 – 400,000 US$ 3,640 – 7,280 GBP 2,500 – 5,000 61 K.H. Ara 14 April 1914 – 30 June 1985 Still Life Watercolour on paper pasted on cardboard, Early 1960s Signed in English ‘ARA’ l.l. Inscribed in English ‘7091/1, 8-2-66’ on verso. A framer’ Satguru’s’ label present on verso 25.0 x 19.1 in (63.5 x 48.5 cm) Provenance Private New Delhi-based Collection; acquired from the Artist’s Family Collection ` 400,000 – 800,000 US$ 7,270 – 14,540 GBP 5,000 – 10,000