Important Notice

"It seems to me that it is not possible to ever exhaust all possibilities of imaging the human head, each similar and yet so dissimilar. My ardent search is for a look, a gaze, an expression, a stance and a placement." - AKBAR PADAMSEE

Akbar Padamsee has returned to the portrait throughout his practice. Rarely identifiable, these faces are nonetheless real, both in terms of the realism of their features, as well as the... "It seems to me that it is not possible to ever exhaust all possibilities of imaging the human head, each similar and yet so dissimilar. My ardent search is for a look, a gaze, an expression, a stance and a placement." - AKBAR PADAMSEE

Akbar Padamsee has returned to the portrait throughout his practice. Rarely identifiable, these faces are nonetheless real, both in terms of the realism of their features, as well as the emotions they exhibit. "I draw my figures and forms from the world that I know intimately, but viewers also find there is a sense of detachment or alienation in them. My figures are not heroic creatures, nor are they angst-ridden, shattered beings. They exist, and on their flesh and bones is stamped the experience of living." (Artist quoted in an interview with Paromita Chakrabarti, The Indian Express, 20 September 2015, online)

The present lot is rendered in the luminescent oranges which are critical to Padamsee's 'Metascapes.' The monochromatic palette presents an intriguing counterpoint to the wistful expression on the subject's face. Padamsee says that he often constructs portraits using his own reflection in the mirror as a starting point and as his "immediate inspiration." His figuration has undergone several changes over the decades. In the 1950s, when he moved to Paris, the female forms he painted transformed from what he terms "elemental" to the "physical," followed by larger works with less defined lines and contours in the late 1950s. From the 1980s onwards, "the mood of the figures became pensive and sad." (Artist quoted in Chakrabarti, online) Positioned toward the edge of the canvas to create a sense of imbalance and alienation, the bearded prophet-like face has been a recurring image in Padamsee's portraits through the years.

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