Important Notice

“Right from the beginning, Bawa has based his aesthetic concerns on what he thought was universal in visual art and so has steadfastly adhered to his own pictorial archetypes. In the process, he has continuously embellished and redesigned his figurative images as part of a quintessentially Indian tradition, unburdened by any compulsions of being taken for an ‘Indian’ artist. In the surface appearance, his thematic (but seldom narrative)... “Right from the beginning, Bawa has based his aesthetic concerns on what he thought was universal in visual art and so has steadfastly adhered to his own pictorial archetypes. In the process, he has continuously embellished and redesigned his figurative images as part of a quintessentially Indian tradition, unburdened by any compulsions of being taken for an ‘Indian’ artist. In the surface appearance, his thematic (but seldom narrative) figurations look Indian, if only because they are replete with Indian myths that are pregnant with artistic possibilities… Interestingly, Bawa is given to a minimalist approach as far as he does not believe in either a textured background or a conventionally dictated spatial perspective, while at the same time he shows no reservations about the use of chiaroscuro in highlighting aspects of his meticulously crafted configurations” (Samir Dasgupta, “Reconfirming the Role of Linearity”, Manjit Bawa Recent Works, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, and Sama’a, Gurgaon, exhibition catalogue, 2004, not paginated).

Like most of Bawa’s paintings, the present lot explores the complexity of communication through a dynamic human-animal relationship. Here, an exquisite purple lioness shares the frame with a pale, blue-gray human, her fourth leg indistinguishable from his second. The artist’s subtle shading and chiaroscuro add volume to the subjects, rendering them in a dream like physicality against the flat yellow background. Locked in a close embrace, the lioness and the human share a deep and direct visual contact, communicating with each other in a manner that is neither human nor feline. The question that arises here, then, centers on the nature of the relationship between man and beast: do the two share mutual respect, or are they engaged in fierce combat?

“Manjit’s art, complex and multi-layered, beguiles the casual onlooker with its deceptive simplification. Nothing could be further from the truth. Manjit has spent a lifetime honing his skills as a draughtsman, an artist and colourist, but like a Zen master he is also a minimalist and a purist” (Buddhadeb Dasgupta, “Another Angle”, Manjit Bawa, Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, and Gallery Maya, London, exhibition catalogue, 2005, not paginated).

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