Osian's Auction Catalogue Indian Modern Fine Arts | June 2017

55 Ganesh Pyne (1937 – 2013) Seated Man Pen & ink on paper, 1978 Signed in Bengali ‘Ganesh Pyne 78’ l.l. Inscribed ‘SEATED MAN’ (PEN AND INK) GANESH PYNE, 3/1A, KAVIRAJ ROW, CALCUTTA- 700073’ on verso 7.1 x 5.5 in (18.0 x 14.0 cm) Provenance Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner. Illustrative Reference Published in book ‘Chitrakram - Chitrakar’ “ Ganesh pyne Chitrakriti somporke Alochona ” By Anjan Sen Painting’s serial No. 34. INR 500,000 – 750,000 USD 7,813 – 11,719 The tempera on canvas masterpiece “The Assassin” emerged in 1979, and you can see so much of that spirit and brilliance in this small gem of Indian draughtsmanship and art. I have now come to the conclusion that the character of a drawing manifests itself best in black and white and that the effect of mass or tone should be rendered in lines only. Line is indeed the life of a drawing, because it is a fact that an artist thinks in terms of lines and not words. He can identify his image or theme from a collection of lines. He feels tempted to use colour to make the drawing attractive and to enhance its pictorial and tactile qualities. I do sometimes resort to this manner but that is truly the character of painting not drawing. The quality of line that we can create from the tip of a metal nib surpasses that which is made with the help of any other tool. This is the reason why I prefer to work in pen and ink. Indian Drawing Today 1987, Ganesh Pyne, p34. 56 S.H. Raza (1922 – 2016) Untitled Oil on mount board, 1978-9 S/d ‘RAZA 78’ l.c. S/d ‘RAZA 1979’ on verso 13.0 x 10.5 in (33.1 x 26.6 cm) Provenance Purchased directly from the artist S.H. Raza by Pundole’s Art Gallery, thereafter sold to Delhi- based Collection. INR 640,000 – 960,000 USD 10,000 – 15,000 Full image on p.126 From the late seventies Raza’s paintings emerge from darkness, from deep silence; from the absolute vacuum created in himself; from inner space; from meditation. The forms in Raza’s paintings are pared down to their essence. They are simple, elementary forms with universal meaning – based on geometric principles which become metaphors for the world he intends to represent. Geeti Sen rpt. in Bindu: Space and Time in Raza’s Vision , Media Transasia, 1997. The dark recesses of Ganesh Pyne’s imagery and refined draughtsmanship overwhelmed whatever crossed his path. An aura of brooding sadness always underlies his work, served by a tranquil obsession with death. That many of the memories, dreams and fairytales came from his grandmother’s narration, within their sheltered ancestral home, meant there was an in-built force towards fusing the joyous with the mythic, the nostalgic with the eternal, the protected and its intruder. Once this contradictory cohesion was sustained no outer trauma could usurp this source of inspiration. Neville Tuli rpt. in ‘1964-72: An Indian Identity Clarifies’, The Flamed-Mosaic: Indian Contemporary Painting, Heart in association with Mapin, 1997, pp. 242-243. Indian Modern Fine Arts | 125