Important Notice

One of the most prominent figurative artists of her time, Anjolie Ela Menon began painting in the mid-1950s. Noted for her virtuosity as a colourist, her early works lay the ground for the arresting central figure with hollowed-out eyes for which she came to be known. She studied frescoes at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris, in 1959. Her time at the Ecole and her travels across Europe in the 1960s moulded and made her grow as an... One of the most prominent figurative artists of her time, Anjolie Ela Menon began painting in the mid-1950s. Noted for her virtuosity as a colourist, her early works lay the ground for the arresting central figure with hollowed-out eyes for which she came to be known. She studied frescoes at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts, Paris, in 1959. Her time at the Ecole and her travels across Europe in the 1960s moulded and made her grow as an artist. Her style and palette were heavily influenced by Byzantine and Romanesque art, and she assimilated Bosch, Giotto, Botticelli and Giselbertus. Her idiom was informed by an amalgamation of what she imbibed from her travels.

Anjolie's paintings are characterised by their stark sepia or patina-tinged palettes. This works marvellously for her choice and treatment of subject matter; the colours lack sentimentality and present the subject with unabashed candour. Women form an important part of her oeuvre. In many of her oil on masonite works-her preferred medium-the women possess a luminosity which she has lent to them through a distillation of style. The timing of the current work coincides with pivotal art movements that were being pioneered in the West, such as feminist and post-modern art, situating Anjolie among the important artists of her time. It appears to be an early work and is a significant one: it was exhibited at the Lalit Kala Akademi in 1971. The relation between the central figure and background is marked by a utilisation of space rendered in broad, flat and opaque colours, does not reveal the particulars of time or location and lends an aura of mystery. Her signature void eyes set the mood and tone of the painting. Writing about works sharing a stylistic similarity to the present lot, art critic Isana Murti writes, "This style appears to characterize all the paintings Anjolie did in Paris as a student, and again in the Harlem series of the early 1960s. Strong, well-developed spaces with very little detail are the leit-motifs of this period" (Anjolie Ela Menon: Through the Patina, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2010, pg.28).

Read More
Artist Profile
Other works of this artist in: this auction  |  entire site