Important Notice

Regarded as one of the most important modern Indian sculptors, Dhanraj Bhagat is known for pioneering unconventional mediums and sculpting techniques including papier-mache, cement and metal casting, wood and stone carving, ceramics, enamelling on metal, welded metals and chased, hammered and repousse textures, at a time when realism was the norm. Bhagat's sculptural vocabulary progressed towards Cubist and Abstract forms following his... Regarded as one of the most important modern Indian sculptors, Dhanraj Bhagat is known for pioneering unconventional mediums and sculpting techniques including papier-mache, cement and metal casting, wood and stone carving, ceramics, enamelling on metal, welded metals and chased, hammered and repousse textures, at a time when realism was the norm. Bhagat's sculptural vocabulary progressed towards Cubist and Abstract forms following his encounter with the works of the Russian-American Alexander Archipenko, and British sculptor Lynn Chadwick.

From the 1960s, his geometric forms became more "box-like" and "architectural." The present lot, titled Ravana, references the mythology of the king of Lanka who had ten heads. The genius of the work lies in the simplicity of composition and his use of basic geometric forms to evoke the power and influence of the ten-headed Ravana. Bhagat's geometry "is inspired from the natural forms of plants, trees and flowers that achieve a transformation through his inner vision in an amazing variety of forms, as seen in some of his masterly works... He relates the natural form reduced to its basic geometric designations like the square, triangle, circle or the spiral, and assembles them in compositions of rare creativity in his constructions." (Pran Nath Mago, Contemporary Art in India: A Perspective, New Delhi: National Book Trust India, 2001, p. 183) Bhagat was born in Lahore in 1917, and trained at the Mayo School of Art in Lahore where he received a Diploma in Sculpture. He participated in India's first three Triennales; the All India Sculpture Exhibition at the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, in 1954; and several shows held by the Bombay Art Society, the All India Academy of Fine Arts, Kolkata, and All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), New Delhi. In 1977, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri. The Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi held a retrospective of his works the following year. Bhagat's sculptures are part of public and private collections, including the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, and the Government College of Art in Chandigarh. Bhagat passed away in 1988. In 2010, the College opened the Dhanraj Bhagat Sculpture Park in memory of the artist.

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