Important Notice

Lot 13

 

Quick Zoom

Manjit Bawa's men, women, gods and animals are rendered with a simple fluidity that borders on the abstract, and suspended wondrously against vivid fields of colour. Pared of all excess detail, they resemble nothing we have seen or experienced before. Rather than brushstroke and texture, Bawa relies on subtle shading and delicate tonal contrasts to deliver depth to his canvases, and rather than developing a narrative, his efforts are... Manjit Bawa's men, women, gods and animals are rendered with a simple fluidity that borders on the abstract, and suspended wondrously against vivid fields of colour. Pared of all excess detail, they resemble nothing we have seen or experienced before. Rather than brushstroke and texture, Bawa relies on subtle shading and delicate tonal contrasts to deliver depth to his canvases, and rather than developing a narrative, his efforts are concentrated on the perfection of form. Though this may seem a naïve aesthetic at first, these characteristics come together to give his paintings an arresting luminosity, and his characters a dreamlike presence.

The present lot, a portrait of a man draped in a deep crimson shawl against a brighter crimson background, draws on both the artist's early training in serigraphy and silkscreen printing in England and on his exposure to Rajput and Pahari miniature paintings, mythology, religious teaching, and Sufi poetry in India. Reflecting on his creative process, Bawa explains that it is similar to the state of isolation in one's own thoughts that he has portrayed in the present lot. "I have learnt the art of detachment. When I paint, I work in complete isolation and the world ceases to exist then. In my own life too there have been times so painful that I would have gone under had I not withdrawn to my inner space. When I paint, the canvas becomes the focal point and I hate to be distracted. It is like I am in dialogue with the work, struggling to make it come alive" (as quoted in Manjit Bawa, Sakshi Gallery and Gallery Maya exhibition catalogue, 2005, not paginated).

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