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

Lot 18 ‘Among Indian portrait painters, Antonio Xavier Trindade was the one with a distinctly classical approach. His Roman Catholic upbringing in Portuguese Goa greatly influenced both his technique and subject matter… In addition to perceptive oil portraits of well-known figures of his time,Trindade’s ouvre also included several intimate domestic scenes featuring his family, servants and itinerant medicants. The depth of psychological perception and purity of tones found in his oil paintings prompted one contemporary writer to dub him the “Rembrandt of the East” although the eloquence of his chiaroscuro technique is perhaps more reminiscent of the Spanish painters Velasquez and Goya. Because of his religious background, Trindade was perhaps unique among his compatriots for his penetrating versions of Christian themes.’ – Bradley L. Tindall, rpt. in Antonio Xavier Trindade: An Indian Painter From Portuguese Goa. Georgia (USA): Georgia Museum of Art 1996; p13. 53 Indian Antiquities, Modern & Contemporary Fine Arts