Osian's Auction Catalogue Indian Antiquities and Modern and Contemporary Fine Arts | June 2015

Devayani Krishna 8 July 1910 – 5 September 2000 Effect of the Moon on the Mind & the Brain Conte & charcoal on paper, 1961 S/d in English ‘Devayani 61’ l.r. 60.2 x 95.3 in (153.0 x 242.0 cm) Provenance The Osian’s Collection; formerly Delhi based gallery & Artist’s Family Collection “I was angry with Kan (Kanwal Krishna, her husband), who was in a phase of transition, formulating ideas and techniques after his travels in Europe. For not communicating what I sought to learn. And lines were the most direct way of expressing my feelings swiftly through three big drawings. The beginnings of such forms with the same idea of transparency. The series emerged as ‘The effect of the moon on the mind and the brain’, which may be sourced to the words of a saint that I had once heard. The drawings were so large that I achieved the sweeping circular strokes by stretching the arm that held the crayon and rotating my entire body while sitting on the drawing.” – Devayani Krishna, rpt. in Noor:A Retrospective, 1940-2000 NGMA ExC.2000 [in collaboration with Vadehra].) “The unfettered freedom of imagination that abstraction offered was its gift to artists wanting to break free of any restraints. Neither frame, not figure, nor field could abstain their quest for complete liberation. A curious fascination for the unexplored nurtured their curiosity that was fed by ingenuity but built around geometric shapes. Spirals, concentric circles, tight angles and sharp lines defined their experimentation, mirroring the scientific quest for the exploration of futuristic worlds or undertaking space voyages. But space and future were still esoteric concepts shaped by fantasy rather than knowledge – which, ironically, remained limited, while resulting in shapes and concepts that suspended explanation and inhibition as mere imaginings.” – Singh, Kishore (Editor). Indian Abstracts: An Absence of Form. New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery 2014; pp.224 (col.)/ BOOK.bkc Illustrative Reference for similar series Dutta,Ajit Kumar (Text by). Kanwal Krishna and Devayani Krishna. New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi (Lalit Kala Contemporary Indian Art Series); 1994; pl.49 (b/w)/ BOOK. bkc Singh, Kishore (Editor). Manifestations VII. New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery 2013; pp.97-98 (col.)/ BOOK.bkc Singh, Kishore (Editor). Indian Abstracts:An Absence of Form. New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery 2014; pp.224 (col.)/ BOOK.bkc ` 3,600,000 – 5,400,000 US$ 60,000 – 90,000 GBP 36,000 – 54,000 LOT 45 REPRESENTS ONE OF DEVYANI KRISHNA’S MOST IMPORTANT ARTWORKS “THE EFFECT OF THE MOON ON THE MIND & THE BRAIN” 45 111 Indian Antiquities, Modern & Contemporary Fine Arts