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

67 K.K. Hebbar (1911 – 1996) Pond Oil on canvas, 1991 S/d ‘Hebbar 91’ l.l. 23.6 x 35.4 in (60.0 x 90.0 cm) Provenance Eminent Mumbai-based Private Family Collection; thereafter acquired by Delhi-based Collector. INR 1,800,000 – 2,700,000 USD 28,125 – 42,188 Full double-spread image on pp.140-141 “‘Painting in flat masses easily stimulated Indianness but then after seeing the works of modern masters like Matisse and Braque, Hebbar’s paintings became free of chiaroscuro. The shaded portions of his compositions, instead of being merely tonal and graded, now became virtually coloured passages fom dark to light and from hard to soft colour orchestration. This colour orchestration, independent of chiaroscuro, continues in his paintings to this day.’ V.R. Amberkar rpt. in Hebbar. LKA 1960. The breadth he gives to form, the freshness, warmth and plasticity of his pigment, the linear grace, fluency and rhythm, and the sensitivity in stylization he achieves with stunning ease…There is more sublimity than subtlety in his work. The rhythm and resonance of his line are visual music at its best. A.S. Raman rpt. in ‘Interview with K.K. Hebbar’, The Critical Vision , LKA, 1993, p.64 “Hebbar’s art is all about balance, purity and serenity. He has traced the progression of his imagery from the academic to near- abstraction in works generated by his intense feeling for his environment. ‘I seek to find myself and follow it wherever it leads me,’ he once said.” Pran Nath Mago rpt. in Contemporary Art in India: A Perspective New Delhi: NBT 2000; p.147. ‘The expression of an emotion not only depends upon the subject matter but also on the juxtaposition of colours and treatment of space together with inventive symbols. The resulting work attains a new reality, far more true than visible reality and far removed from the so-called academic or impressionistic work. It is in this middle path, I believe, that there lie immense possibilities of maintaining the artist’s individuality and at the same time of creating works which attain universality.’ K.K. Hebbar rpt. in Lalit Kala Contemporary 7 & 8, 1967- 68. p.28. 142 | Osian’s–Connoisseurs of Art