Important Notice

Akbar Padamsee’s figuration evolved in style and technique throughout his six-decade career, from sculptural forms of the 1950s to melancholic figures in the 1960s and delicate watercolour nudes in the 1980s. By the end of the 1950s, the rigid black lines that bound his early figures dissolved and their forms became more fluid, like the subject of the present lot. Padamsee often began constructing his portraits using his own reflection in the... Akbar Padamsee’s figuration evolved in style and technique throughout his six-decade career, from sculptural forms of the 1950s to melancholic figures in the 1960s and delicate watercolour nudes in the 1980s. By the end of the 1950s, the rigid black lines that bound his early figures dissolved and their forms became more fluid, like the subject of the present lot. Padamsee often began constructing his portraits using his own reflection in the mirror as a reference. Said the artist, “I draw my figures and forms from the world that I know intimately, but viewers also find there is a sense of detachment or alienation in them. My figures are not heroic creatures, nor are they angst-ridden, shattered beings. They exist, and on their flesh and bones is stamped the experience of living.” (Artist quoted in an interview with Paromita Chakrabarti, The Indian Express, 20 September 2015, online)

Portrayed against an indistinct background, these figures are often solitary, as evident in the present lot, painted in 1998. “Lone figures have allowed him the possibility for exploring the formal and existential meaning of space and the location of the human in it. Singular males or females appear to work on the canvas like architecture does to populate and perhaps acculturate a terrain. That is why his portraits... endow a monumentality and ponderousness to the figures.” (Annapurna Garimella, “Re-situating Akbar Padamsee: A Sociology of Figuration”, Bhanumati Padamsee and Annapurna Garimella eds., Akbar Padamsee: Work in Language, Mumbai: Marg Publications and Pundole Art Gallery, 2010, p. 90)

The subject of the present lot is a woman depicted with her head downcast. Though her identity remains ambiguous like many of Padamsee’s figures, her form nonetheless exhibits a realism in its features, as well as the emotions it exhibits. Art historian Pheroza Godrej writes, “Akbar’s female figures are distinctive because of their self- absorption. They do not offer themselves up for their femininity to be surveyed either by voyeur or lover, despite, in some cases, the erotic promise or rich colour and monumental propositions. Despite their vulnerability, they are not really accessible… The recognition of this ‘otherness’ of women was an important and significant step in the direction of visualizing them more fully as individuals.” (Pheroza Godrej, “A Time for Reflection: Pose? Posture? Picture? Painting?”, Bhanumati Padamsee and Annapurna Garimella eds., Akbar Padamsee: Work in Language, Mumbai: Marg Publications and Pundole Art Gallery, 2010, p. 160).

The work is rendered in deep reds and oranges, a luminous palette which defined Padamsee’s Metascapes and confirms the artist’s reputation as a master colourist. Here it endows the figure with a sense of intrigue and timelessness. Taken by Padamsee’s unique mastery of the human form, artist Gieve Patel once remarked, “I did drool over his works-how could I use red like that, endlessly burning and smouldering within itself? How to paint a human body so that it seems not to be present and yet has the solidity and structure of a firm rock? To this day I have not fathomed the secret of those works.” (Gieve Patel quoted in Michael Meister, “Abstracting Figuration: Akbar Padamsee’s Body in India”, Bhanumati Padamsee and Annapurna Garimella eds., Akbar Padamsee: Work in Language, Mumbai: Marg Publications and Pundole Art Gallery, 2010, p. 100)

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