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Lot 110

 

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Raghav Kaneria was one of the most distinguished Indian sculptors of the 20th century and the only sculptor member of the influential Group 1890. He was noted for fashioning pieces out of industrial waste starting from 1962, a practice he further honed while a student at the Royal College of Art in London. This present lot, made from metal, was produced during this important period for the artist. He also exhibited in England around the time.... Raghav Kaneria was one of the most distinguished Indian sculptors of the 20th century and the only sculptor member of the influential Group 1890. He was noted for fashioning pieces out of industrial waste starting from 1962, a practice he further honed while a student at the Royal College of Art in London. This present lot, made from metal, was produced during this important period for the artist. He also exhibited in England around the time.

He used wood, nails, metal and scrap iron to create abstract works that drew from the folk art traditions of his native Gujarat. Artist Nilima Sheikh credits Kaneria’s intuitive understanding of design for his striking works while saying, “There was a deliberate irreverence in the act of putting scrap together, a desire to break out of the prevalent design formula... The search was for image, often abstract, to contain the numinous… and his ability to energise and bring new meaning to sculpture.” (Nilima Sheikh quoted in Kishore Singh ed., Group 1890: India’s Indigenous Modernism, New Delhi: DAG Modern, 2016, p. 476)

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