Osian's Auction Catalogue Indian Antiquities Modern Contemporary Fine Arts and Books | April 2017

50 K.S. Kulkarni 1916-1994 Builders Oil on canvas, late 1950s Signed in English ‘K.S. Kulkarni’l.r. Inscribed ‘Builders’, K. S. Kulkarni, Rs-600/- on verso 29.1 x 24.8 in (74.0 x 63.0 cm) Provenance Formerly from the Family Collection of Late Smt. Indira Gandhi; acquired directly from the artist INR 600,000 – 900,000 USD 8,960 – 13,430 Full image on p. 109 51 K.S. Kulkarni 1916-1994 Untitled Oil on canvas, mid 1960s 31.9 x 39.4 in (81.0 x 100.0 cm) Provenance Formerly from the Family Collection of Late Smt. Indira Gandhi; acquired directly from the artist INR 800,000 – 1,200,000 USD 11,940 – 17,910 Full double-spread image on pp. 110-111 ‘Kulkarni has done outstanding work in portraiture and mural painting but his most original contributions are his figure compositions. In the treatment of human figures, he combines the decorative elegance of classical Indian painting – inspired by the frescoes of Ajanta and Ellora – with the vitality and vigour of the Modernists. But he does not go to extremes, or potter with formal inventiveness for its novelty. His work apparently stands halfway between representation and abstraction. His sense of discipline is keen, and he has a profound understanding of tradition. Nevertheless, he constantly explores new angles of style and presentation.’ – Art Critic, rpt. in The Illustrated Weekly 1966. “His influences come from many sources: Indian sculpture, carving, paintings, Picasso, the decorative arts, but they are slowly being welded into a personal expression whose greatest characteristic is an exuberant vitality. A stylised decorative line binds his work together. A series of formalized drawings, taken from Indian sculptures, are unusually free and loose in their handling. Compositions based on dancers and drummers employ angular and curved lines in decorative designs.” – Art Critic - The Washington Post , rpt. in Kulkarni: Kumar Gallery ExC.1966. ‘But, beyond the influence of Indian culture and its ethos, my horizons are universal. I am interested in the universalising of the human spirit. My concepts are not regional, tribal or spiritual and material is the matrix of my creative intent… All creativity is linked within and without. In such a scenario, what one does is to discover from the conflicting forces of this relationship, and conceptualise and perceive, through space, colour, texture and present these having digested the multi- influences…I am influenced by the Indian definition of rajas, satwa and tamas. Like tension in stringed instruments the tension in my work creates its own creative music.’ – K.S. Kulkarni rpt. in Gallerie Ganesha ExC. 1996. 108 | Osian’s–Connoisseurs of Art