Important Notice

Pared of all surfeit detail, Manjit Bawa’s fluid figures seem magically frozen against the saturated fields of colour that the artist creates, inspired by both the miniature traditions of India and the silkscreen processes he studied in England. Yet, these figures do not lack depth. Rather than brushstroke and texture, Bawa relies on subtle chiaroscuro to give his subjects volume; and instead of developing a narrative, the artist concentrates on... Pared of all surfeit detail, Manjit Bawa’s fluid figures seem magically frozen against the saturated fields of colour that the artist creates, inspired by both the miniature traditions of India and the silkscreen processes he studied in England. Yet, these figures do not lack depth. Rather than brushstroke and texture, Bawa relies on subtle chiaroscuro to give his subjects volume; and instead of developing a narrative, the artist concentrates on perfecting structure and form. Though his may seem a naïve figurative aesthetic at first, these characteristics come together to bestow Bawa’s characters, both human and animal, with a dreamlike presence, and his paintings with an arresting luminosity.

Describing the gods, humans and animals that populate Bawa’s canvases, Ranjit Hoskote notes that, “each form, animal and human, rejoices in its plasticity and libidinal energy, its gymnastic ability to defy the strictures of the anatomist. The rounded contours of each toy-like figure speak of its prana. The life-breath that gives it a vital buoyancy, allowing it to occupy rather than be trapped in those flat, glowing, single-colour fields of red, yellow, green or blue that are Bawa’s hallmark device” (Manjit Bawa – Modern Miniatures, Recent Paintings, Bose Pacia Modern exhibition catalogue, 2000, not paginated).

Deeply influenced by Sufi thought, the artist’s subjects express simplicity not only in their forms, but in their interactions with the viewer as well. In the present lot, a large painting of a bull frozen mid-stride against a saturated red ground, Bawa challenges his viewers to rejoice as unreservedly as his subject. Here, the subtly shaded animal also references the joyous tales of Krishna that the artist frequently on in his imagery.

Meditating on the spiritual dimension of Bawa’s work, fellow artist Prabhakar Kolte notes, “While rendering subjects…he takes for granted that they are filled with spiritual breaths, which he can modify in order to free them from their conditional behaviour and when he succeeds, the forms overcome their given function and enter into a pictorial reality which stands between the real and the unreal. Some critics may label this process a method of distortion, but to me it appears to be a personal mode of reconstruction, which evolves out of a sense of constructive reformation…Manjit can absorb into his being any folk hero or legend from popular lore…in order to shape the contemporary image of a man who loves human beings, animals and music. This emotional metamorphosis has played a vital role in his art” (“The Linear Geography of Man-Animal Relationship”, From Art to Art, Bodhana Arts Foundation, Mumbai, 2008, p. 112).

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