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

44 Gopal Ghose 1913-1980 Landscape Pastel on board, 1954 S/d in English ‘54’, l.l. 14.6 x 19.1 in (37.1 x 48.6 cm) Condition A visible crack in t.l. Provenance Private New Delhi-based Collection; previously purchased in 2002 from Delhi- based Collection Illustrative Reference Refer to Gopal Ghose. New Delhi: LKA 1966 for various illustrations of works in pastel during the mid 1950s. INR 400,000 – 600,000 USD 5,970 – 8,960 Full double-spread image on pp. 92-93 “It is not surprising therefore that Gopal Ghose poses awkward and uncomfortable problems to the modern critic. To brush him aside would be impossible, because of the unique character of his creations. He demands attention by the superb craftsmanship with which every work is executed and the aesthetic heights attained by them. On the other hand, it is difficult to interpret his art in terms of the criteria of modern art criticism… Gopal Ghose has a preference for things that appeal to the senses, and judged from the present day ‘intellectual’ stand, this approach to art is decidedly antiquated. Again, in his art we find the granite quality of classic composition, an interest in the free textures of lines; and in his treatment of colours the delicate control of orchestral music… His quest has been to capture the fleeting mystery of colour that results from the incidence of light on nature. His landscapes are thus not the topographies of particular places, but contemplations of the varying moods of nature.” – Dwijendra Moitra, reprinted in Gopal Ghose . New Delhi: LKA 1966; pp1-3. Reminiscing his student days at Government Art College, Calcutta, Shyamal Dutta Ray notes about Gopal Ghose where he was a teacher, “a new horizon of colours was exposed to us. With a combination of contrasting colours he [Gopal Ghose] gave a new interpretation of light and shade – totally different from what we were accustomed to. We were endowed with a new kind of vision to which this familiar world of nature revealed herself as something new, full of poignant mystery. And now, the artist of this world came to us as a teacher.” – Shyamal Dutta Ray, rpt. in Gopal Ghose: A Retrospective , ExC, 1995 “Gopal Ghose’s art unfolds a whole gamut of colours in all possible nuances and shades. Little wonder then that nature, that vast repository of all colours, should inevitably play a dominant part in his art. Again, he loves nature not for any superficial or ‘easy beauty’ that has been the undoing of many an artist and tied down their art to pedestrian levels but as the source of formal expression. His quest has been to capture the fleeting mystery of colour that results from the incidence of light on nature. His landscapes are thus not the topographies of particular places, but contemplations of the varying moods of nature.” – ‘Indian Art in Retrospect: Gopal Ghose’ rpt. in Bombay Art Society’s Art Journal, Vol. 3, No. 3, 1974; p.9. “His landscapes are not topographies of particular places nor is he content in celebrating the external beauty of nature. His landscapes grow out of the imagination, memories of forms, colour and incidence of light. His landscapes present the essence of nature and all its fleeting moods…. On learning of his urge to know the Indian Landscape in all its variety, Rabindranath Tagore remarked ‘You have set out to see India through the eyes of an artist. I hope the world will someday see its grandeur through your work’…” – Sebanti Sarkar Chakravarty rpt. in Gopal Ghose: The Pre-Independence Years EXC.; Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Calcutta 1997, paraphrasing much of Jaya Appasamy’s earlier comments but without having given her credit. “His quest has been to capture the fleeting mystery of light on nature. His landscapes are thus not the topographies of particular places, but contemplations of the varying moods on nature.” – Jaya Appasamy, rpt. in Gopal Ghose .1996; p3. 94 | Osian’s–Connoisseurs of Art