Important Notice

The present lot is an early work by Atul Dodiya, painted in the photorealist style which he employed in the 1980s. During this period, he painted monumental representations of small town architecture, as seen in the present lot, and scenes depicting the quiet, unassuming middle-class environment he grew up in. Often these works centred on his life in Mumbai and the landscapes of his native Saurashtra, a region in Gujarat. These early works... The present lot is an early work by Atul Dodiya, painted in the photorealist style which he employed in the 1980s. During this period, he painted monumental representations of small town architecture, as seen in the present lot, and scenes depicting the quiet, unassuming middle-class environment he grew up in. Often these works centred on his life in Mumbai and the landscapes of his native Saurashtra, a region in Gujarat. These early works brought him considerable recognition in this nascent stage of his career.

In these large, frequently autobiographical canvases, Dodiya adopts a subtle naturalistic style, developed through a flat application of colour inspired by the work of artists such as Bhupen Khakhar and British artist David Hockney. In the present lot, titled Saurabh Society - 12 Noon, the artist depicts a small, deserted Nandi temple, surrounded by basic one-storied buildings. The stark atmosphere suggests that this is the desert landscape of the Saurashtra region, which Dodiya often visited by train. The artist brilliantly captures the play of light and shadow caused by the strong overhead noon sun, referred to in the title, through a restrained colour palette and chiaroscuro. The conspicuous lack of human figures and the flat photographic effects are recurring elements in Dodiya's paintings from this period.

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