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

“…what art deals with, perhaps, is not the continuity but the moment of discontinuity, the aspect of discontinuity. So in that sense there is no growth in art. It is only when you start putting things in perspective that you start discovering the contours of movement. So if you do away with perspective, what are you left with? … The critical part of the creative process for me is to drop all consciously arrived at images, so that whatever else is left, that comes out…” – J. Swaminathan, from conversation with Neville Tuli, October 1993 (probably the last recorded conversation with the artist). “Because he is whimsical, unpredictable, he paints as a man possessed. His vocabulary is loaded with metaphor as any metaphoric tribal wall; nothing new is consciously attempted, only the fanciful marking representing the mood of the moment is brought into play: automatic scribbling, patterns that cancel out weight against image, smudge against crust, and the crisscrossing doodling game.” – K.B. Goel, rpt. in Vadehra Gallery Exec, 1993. “…Swaminathan’s use of graffiti is an expression of his disconnection from his class. We should, therefore, pay less attention to his formal and painterly stances: the quintessential Swaminathan is rooted in tribal graffiti’s graphic experience. He is as whimsical as the raving maenad. Because he is whimsical, unpredictable, he paints as a man possessed: vocabulary is loaded with metaphors as any metaphoric tribal wall; nothing new is consciously attempted, only the fanciful marking, representing the mood of the moment, is brought into play: automatic scribbling, patternings that cancel out weight against image, smudge against crust, and of course the crisscrossing doodling game. In his smaller works, graffiti like expressionistic calligraphic images are dispersed all over the surface: the frame is irrelevant to these works… Unsublimated aggressiveness is the natural expressionistic tendency of black strokes: they are played up against coloured scrawls, and their total affect is not aggressive but eyeful, soothing diffidently indecisive.” – K.B. Goel, “The Self” in Lalit Kala Contemporary No. 40, (Lalit Kala Akademi, 1995), p.78. 79 J. Swaminathan 1928-1994 Signs & Symbols Series Oil on canvas, 1988 Signed in Devnagari ‘Swaminathan 88’ on verso 31.9 x 46.1 in (81.0 x 117.0 cm) Provenance Eminent New Delhi-based Private Collection; directly gifted by the artist to the Collector INR 3,600,000 – 5,400,000 USD 53,730 – 80,600 Full Double-spread image on pp. half title 170 | Osian’s–Connoisseurs of Art