Important Notice

Manjit Bawa's art was like the artist himself, a sensitive and complex amalgamation of infl uences that were vast and eclectic. For technique, he drew upon Mughal, Rajput and Pahari miniatures as well as silk-screen printing, which he studied in Britain. For narrative, he dove into stories from Indian mythology. The serenity of Bawa's flat background colours, was perhaps informed by Sufism, a philosophy he believed in deeply. By absorbing each... Manjit Bawa's art was like the artist himself, a sensitive and complex amalgamation of infl uences that were vast and eclectic. For technique, he drew upon Mughal, Rajput and Pahari miniatures as well as silk-screen printing, which he studied in Britain. For narrative, he dove into stories from Indian mythology. The serenity of Bawa's flat background colours, was perhaps informed by Sufism, a philosophy he believed in deeply. By absorbing each of these elements, and a rigorous training in figurative drawing at the School of Art in Delhi, Bawa began distorting forms and created stylisations that were his own.

Bawa painted humans and animals with equal fluidity, capturing nuances of expression with a few masterful strokes. "Manjit's art was not so much narrative as it was tersely idiomatic. Short staccato phrases pregnant with as many possibilities as the reader could read into them... Yet, with just the right gesture or a twist of the rubbery body his magical paintings could encapsulate whole Puranic legends and folk tales with a subversive sense of humour." (S Kalidas, Let's Paint the Sky Red: Manjit Bawa, New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 2011, p. 19) The present lot, a seemingly simple portrait of a woman, holds within it a world of meaning, possibilities, and references. Pensively staring off canvas, she touches her necklace with her rubbery, spider-like fingers. She has elements of the classical muse, yet could belong to the present. There are no indications of place or scale, she seems timeless in her reverie.

"The colours and the simplicity of people I met fascinated me." - MANJIT BAWA

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