Important Notice

Jagdish Swaminathan rejected the idea that Indian modernism was solely influenced by the West and sought to establish a continuum between modern art and folk and tribal traditions by delving into the latter’s primitive symbolism as well as Indian art forms such as Pahari miniatures and Tantric art. He crafted a unique indigenous pictorial idiom that drew from basic symbols and geometric shapes found particularly in Central India and Himachal... Jagdish Swaminathan rejected the idea that Indian modernism was solely influenced by the West and sought to establish a continuum between modern art and folk and tribal traditions by delving into the latter’s primitive symbolism as well as Indian art forms such as Pahari miniatures and Tantric art. He crafted a unique indigenous pictorial idiom that drew from basic symbols and geometric shapes found particularly in Central India and Himachal Pradesh, and also experimented with geometry and pure colour.

The present lot appears to be an early example of his seminal Bird Mountain Tree series, which he began in the late 1960s. Spanning over two decades of his career, it features the three symbolic objects in various permutations, colours, and relationships, while retaining subtle distinctions. Many formal qualities of Pahari miniature paintings can be recognised in this composition, including the flat expanse of colour and fine detailing. “[The paintings] are suggestive, open to interpretation: as an expression of the self’s unity with nature, they can be seen as a visual equivalent to the transcendental principle expounded in the Upanishads. They also approximate the numen, the basis of most primitive art. Formally, they relate to the paintings of Paul Klee and to Pahari miniatures-Klee sought in his art the power of communion and an affinity with nature; the mystical aspirations are characteristic of Kangra paintings.” (Amrita Jhaveri, A Guide to 101 Modern and Contemporary Indian Artists, Mumbai: India Book House, 2005, p. 93)

Swaminathan’s unique symbolism created through form and colour lend his paintings “a curious dualism. There is assertion, and also submission. There is defiance, and also prayer... there is a homage to the quiet, almost placid splendour of timelessness, of contained animation.” (Suren Navlakha, Exhibition of Paintings by J Swaminathan, New Delhi: Dhoomimal Gallery, 1979)

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