Important Notice

Following his seminal ‘Ape’ and ‘Man’ series of works from the 1970s and 80s, Broota turned away from exclusive figuration to work on a series of large semiabstract canvases with highly textured surfaces that alternately concealed and revealed various proto-human figures and architectural forms. Although the figure may have receded in these works, the artist emphasizes the fact that they are not abstract, especially in their conception. Titled... Following his seminal ‘Ape’ and ‘Man’ series of works from the 1970s and 80s, Broota turned away from exclusive figuration to work on a series of large semiabstract canvases with highly textured surfaces that alternately concealed and revealed various proto-human figures and architectural forms. Although the figure may have receded in these works, the artist emphasizes the fact that they are not abstract, especially in their conception. Titled ‘Traces of Man’, they feature Broota’s ‘man’ through his absence or anonymity, and in the unavoidable presence of the relics of his fabrications.

A new step in Broota’s ongoing search for the nature of truth, this series of existential canvases accelerated the process of paring his paintings of all that he deemed superfluous, including narrative and colour. In addition to producing a distinctive finish, the artist’s labour intensive reverse-method of painting mirrors his own struggles and those of his subjects. Using a technique he discovered whilst correcting a damaged piece, Broota builds up translucent layers of grey, blue, brown, or metallic pigments on his surface. Then, using a razor blade, the artist painstakingly nicks away at these layers to literally unearth his image from the painted surface. “The chromatic nuances resulting from the scratching, in spite of their austerity, can be mesmerizing. Broota`s magical handling of myriad textures creates a brilliant impact. Broota achieves this through the variety of ways he wields the razor, sometimes to gouge out paint, at other times to employ linear strokes or fine cross-hatchings. The minute detail is a fascinating visual experience” (Ella Datta, “The Archaeology of Experience”, Rameshwar Broota, Vadehra Art Gallery exhibition catalogue, 2004-05, p. 21).

Part of this series of large, semi-figurative canvases from the late 1990s, the present lot is a monumental tribute to the Unknown Soldier, another recurring theme in the artist’s oeuvre during the late 1990s. Here, the figure of a soldier in dress uniform is faintly visible against the mottled ground. Rather than any distinctive features, it is the epaulets, medals and buttons on his uniform that announce his presence and delineate his character. The image of the soldier, wrestling for definition against the structure of the painted canvas, underscores Broota’s concerns about our constant battle for individuation or the formation of a distinct identity.

As Gayatri Sinha notes, “Broota’s central subject is man, through whose tensions and aspirations, lusts and endeavours, the greater issues of life are mediated. God is indifferent or distant, the human ‘other’ is absent; the solitary man becomes the site for conflict and resolution” (“Edge of the Precipice: The Art of Rameshwar Broota”, Rameshwar Broota: Recent Paintings, Vadehra Art Gallery exhibition catalogue, 2001, p. 23).

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