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

L. Munuswamy b. 1 August 1927 The Chair Oil on canvas, 1962 Signed in English ‘Munuswamy’ l.r. 28.7 x 35.7 in (72.8 x 90.6 cm) Provenance Private Individual Collector, Chennai Illustrative Reference Delhi Art Gallery (Publisher). The Drifting Horizon: L. Munuswamy. New Delhi 2007. [Contributors - Roobina Karode & Geeta Doctor] Colour Illustration p.17. ` 600,000 – 900,000 US$ 10,000 – 15,000 GBP 6000 – 9000 “…..1960s show Munuswamy at his most prolific, turning to tempera, watercolour, ink washes, oils and collages.” – Geeta Doctor quoted and reprinted in [BKC, 2007]. Karode, Roobina (Editor). The Drifting Horizon: L. Munuswamy. New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery 2007; pp.19 “Munuswamy was learning to dream in colour, and though the line was ever-present below the surface of the paint, the artist seemed ready to allow his imagination a free reign. ..…one can see Munuswamy’s work alternating between monumental compositions – where he uses thick heavy coats of paint, placing the image squarely at the centre of his canvas, as in the image of a tree- trunk or The Chair (his tribute to Van Gogh?), suggesting a distinct presence of its own – and an almost ethereal style where colours and forms are applied with the utmost delicacy.” – Geeta Doctor quoted and reprinted in [BKC, 2007]. Geeta Doctor quoted and reprinted in [BKC, 2007]. Karode, Roobina (Editor). The Drifting Horizon: L. Munuswamy. New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery 2007; pp.17 “A new page is revealed in Munuswamy’s art in the 60’s – a page far more serious than any that had gone before. Asserting his new instinct for independence, he plunged into the questions of theme and technique with adequate artistic credentials. How would he go about the question of finding an outlet for his creative work? The approach Munuswamy developed …….was to imprint a way that would justify his temperament and intellectual needs. A compelling description of what the artist was undertaking comes from his own self: “My struggle could not be bracketed with or compared to any that was being practised or appreciated at that time. Why? I absorbed all the influences of the European masters, but I was never derivative or imitative. This is an important aspect of my work – there has been a steady, unbroken individualism which formed in me without my being aware of it. It all began with the Impressionists – Manet, Monet, Pissaro, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec, Gaugin, Van Gogh on to Matisse, and some of the Fauvists and then the Cubists, Cezanne, Braque, Gris, Picasso. I learnt to look at things in whichever form they were around me – trees, flowers, beast or man or even man-made objects – with both my physical and inner eyes.” – Anjali Sircar quoted and reprinted in [BKC, 1985]. Sircar, Anjali (Author). L. Munuswamy. New Delhi: Lalit Kala Academy. np. L. MUNUSWAMY’S INTERPRETATION OF VAN GOGH’S FAMOUS CHAIR PAINTINGS (VAN GOGH’S CHAIR WITH PIPE & GAUGUIN’S ARMCHAIR) 49 Paul Gaugin Armchair Vincent van Gogh Chair with His Pipe For Illustrative Reference Only 116