Important Notice

"Apart from academic training - making figure drawings, portraits, landscapes and still lifes, I think that informal ways of assimilating have shaped my expression in many ways." - JYOTI BHATT

The present lot, a bronze sculpture by Jyoti Bhatt, is an unusual work for the artist, who is widely known and recognised for his print-making and photography. In the 1960s, Bhatt embarked on a photographic project documenting the life... "Apart from academic training - making figure drawings, portraits, landscapes and still lifes, I think that informal ways of assimilating have shaped my expression in many ways." - JYOTI BHATT

The present lot, a bronze sculpture by Jyoti Bhatt, is an unusual work for the artist, who is widely known and recognised for his print-making and photography. In the 1960s, Bhatt embarked on a photographic project documenting the life and culture of remote rural and tribal communities in India. Through this journey, he encountered diverse traditional art forms such as wall paintings, murals and ritualistic designs and diagrams, which served as inspiration for his own art. By translating these motifs and imagery on to his sculptural forms, Bhatt gives them a uniquely, and literally, new dimension and perspective. As seen in the present lot, Bhatt employs low-relief moulding with intricate embellishments and detailing to highlight the interplay of solid shapes and plain surfaces, while drawing references to Bankura terracotta and similar pottery traditions. Often these works consist of visual symbols from Bhatt's own etchings and drawings, and recurring motifs from his artistic practice - which he explored in a series of small sculptures during a workshop in 2006.

The present lot, crafted in a pyramid form, is one of the largest bronze sculptures in Bhatt's oeuvre. It was part of the exhibition Sculpsit: Between Thought and Action at The Guild in 2019. Speaking about this work, K S Chithra writes: "The three lateral faces of the sculpture depict a divine figure in each with their crown conjoined at the apex forming a lotus bud resembling the kalash (pinnacle) seen in the Hindu temple architecture. The half-bodied figures depicted are prominently moulded with striking facial features and a distinct headgear. Their busts are defined with thick bands incised with dots and lines outlining their forms, further decorated with geometrical and floral motifs. Some surfaces are stencilled out that give immense depth to the sculpture. The composition bears resemblance to Vastu Purusha Mandala (diagram related to principles of Hindu architecture) that Bhatt has used in some of his serigraphs - largely falling into the trajectory of his exploration of ritualistic and metaphysical imagery from Indian traditions."

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