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

K. Ramanujam 24 April 1941 – 4 June 1973 Wedding Couple Ink and wash on paper laid on card, 1967 S/d in English ‘K Ramanujam 67’ l.r. 11.3 x 7.6 in (28.6 x 19.2 cm) Provenance Private Collector, Mumbai ` 450,000 – 675,000 US$ 7,500 – 11,250 GBP 4,500 – 6,750 J. Sultan Ali 12 September 1920 – 1990 Kammu Katta Oil on canvas, 1973 Signed in Devanagari ‘Ali’, S/d in English ‘Sultan Ali 1973’ l.r. 31.3 x 53.1 in (79.4 x 134.8 cm) Provenance Private Individual Collector, Chennai ` 1,500,000 – 2,250,000 US$ 25,000 – 37,500 GBP 15,000 – 22,500 Full image on pp. 136-137 “I have always been fascinated in expressing energy in a variety of ways. There is energy in the sun, the bull, the human figure. I express energy deep inside. Remove all the layers ‑ the figures, the tones, the colours, the arrangements, the expressions of the victory of goodness over evil. Underneath you will come to this energy.” J. Sultan Ali, rpt. in conversation with Aditi De, Indian Express, 05.07.1980. “The painting depicts the Cycle of Life and Death. The Bull, powerful, stubborn, obstinate but magnificently imposing being, symbolizes force and radiates energy. The emphasis is on triumph of good forces over evil. In the panel on the RHS bottom corner of the painting are scripts in suggesting wisdom of Man and his thirst for knowledge. The round ball depicts the Sun the provider of Universal energy without which life would cease.” – Mumtaz Ali Khan, taken from notes in J. Sultan Ali’s private diaries. In Sultan Ali’s mature works inspiration comes directly from the chastity of forms in tribal art. His predilection has been to intersperse nature and its relationship with man in a system of codes/ symbols that he uses and re-uses. He revisits ‘the given’ – the religion, the mythic world of gods and goddesses, re- structuring and personalizing the systems of signs and symbols. The characters in his works are derivations of earthen gods such as nagadevatas, bhoodevi (earth goddess), fire, water, sun-god, and his canvas becomes the stage where forces of nature freeze as pictorial notations, lending humour to his works. Profound themes and thoughts such as victory of good over evil, peace are communicated playfully. The detailed drawings show his draftsmanship. The text becomes analogous to the entire composition, and acts as a decorative element crucial to the picture-space contributing in the relative positioning of the main figure. Thus in Sultan Ali’s world bird, beast, bull, snake, owl, man are brought together in an intimate relationship. “One of his most important motifs in his paintings and drawings was the bull in which he found beauty, power, fierceness and tremendous movement. He painted several series with the bull as the main character interspersed with mysterious men, women, snakes, owls, plants and other elements, in absorbing vibrant colours. To him these inserts were elements of pictorial fantasy, synbolic colourful images, superimposed to give a sense of poetry to the painting.” – Mumtaz J. Ali Khan, rpt. in Solo ExC. Sultan Ali: Paintings. Art Heritage January 1997 [Contributors - E. Alkazi, Mumtaz J. Ali Khan & Sushil Mukherjee] J. SULTAN ALI IS ONE OF INDIA’S MODERN MASTERS WHO IMAGINATIVELY INCORPORATED THE INSPIRATION OF TRIBAL AND FOLK SYMBOLISM INTO HIS ART LIKE NO OTHER. LOT 58 REPRESENTS HIS FAVORITE ICON - THE BULL 57 58 135 Indian Antiquities, Modern & Contemporary Fine Arts