Important Notice

Sailoz Mukherjea is one of the nine artists whose works are designated National Treasures. Having travelled to Europe - where he met the artist Henri Matisse - in the mid-1930s, Mukherjea is widely considered to be among India's earliest Modernists, combining European Romanticism with the traditions of miniature painting to create work that was a break from the realistic academicism of his time. In both composition and technique, he created his... Sailoz Mukherjea is one of the nine artists whose works are designated National Treasures. Having travelled to Europe - where he met the artist Henri Matisse - in the mid-1930s, Mukherjea is widely considered to be among India's earliest Modernists, combining European Romanticism with the traditions of miniature painting to create work that was a break from the realistic academicism of his time. In both composition and technique, he created his own unique vocabulary, as seen in the present lot with its typically minimal detailing and use of thin paint.

Groupings of village women engaged in conversation or communal interactions has been a favourite with Indian artists through the years. This thematic commonality ties the present lot to certain paintings by fellow National Treasure designate Amrita Sher-Gil. Mukherjea's figures are delicate, and rather than dominating the painting, they are participants in a larger architectural setting or landscape. "... if he chose his scenes from reality these were imbued with a new poetry, though based on elements of the real world his pictures were in essence visionary. His women are all heroines of whose frail beauty we catch a fleeting glimpse, his landscapes are suffused with the nostalgia of things remembered that are no more." (Jaya Appasamy, Sailoz Mookherjea, New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi, 1966, p. i)

This fragility is enhanced by his use of colour which "is generally very thin, lucid and luminous, his mastery of the medium is seen especially in his refined handling of transparent hues where the white of the canvas or of other colours shines through." (Appasamy, p. iv) He sometimes used a "scratching" technique to scrape away paint which created movement in his compositions. The present lot is a fine example of Mukherjea's artistic vision of India, its landscapes and people.

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