Important Notice

Manjit Bawa's works reflect freedom and open-mindedness. They do not represent an urge to reconcile the need for reviving Indian art by rejecting western standards. Nor do they resort to balancing western ideals and Indian pictorial styles. His grasp on aestheticism, moulded from the very beginning, helped him create his own pictorial idiom. "Bawa is given to a minimalist approach as far as he does not believe in either a textured background or... Manjit Bawa's works reflect freedom and open-mindedness. They do not represent an urge to reconcile the need for reviving Indian art by rejecting western standards. Nor do they resort to balancing western ideals and Indian pictorial styles. His grasp on aestheticism, moulded from the very beginning, helped him create his own pictorial idiom. "Bawa is given to a minimalist approach as far as he does not believe in either a textured background or a conventionally dictated special perspective, while at the same time he shows no reservations about the use of chiaroscuro in highlighting aspects of his meticulously crafted configurations." (Ina Puri, Manjit Bawa: Recent Works Exhibition Tour 2004, New Delhi-Mumbai-Baroda, Sakshi Gallery, np)

Bawa's works are replete with imagery influenced by Indian mythology. While this 1973 lot does not have the one-dimensional flat space his works are iconic for, it makes use of an assorted colour palette that forms a metaphor for the richness of Indian myths and symbols. The stiffness of the two human figures is offset by the graceful fluidity of the animal's movement. The figures seem to have been removed from context to draw attention to the action of the moment. Whether those hands are raised in victory or to signal the beginning of war is ambiguous. Of his work from the 70s, artist Ranbir Kaleka noted, "He [Bawa] was able to imbue those awkward bodies with gravity yet they floated with such ease...and then there was a sense of humour, seemingly provincial and rustic but so sophisticated." (S. Kalidas, "Let's Paint the Sky Red", Let's Paint the Sky Red: Manjit Bawa, New Delhi: Vadhera Art Gallery, 2011, p17).

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