Important Notice

Shanti Dave is a pioneering figure in modern Indian art, known for his innovative exploration of non- traditional materials. Born in Badpura, a small village in Gujarat, he pursued formal training at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. Here, he studied under the guidance of eminent artists N S Bendre and K G Subramanyan, an experience that played a crucial role in developing his artistic sensibilities and... Shanti Dave is a pioneering figure in modern Indian art, known for his innovative exploration of non- traditional materials. Born in Badpura, a small village in Gujarat, he pursued formal training at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. Here, he studied under the guidance of eminent artists N S Bendre and K G Subramanyan, an experience that played a crucial role in developing his artistic sensibilities and introduced him to various artistic techniques and styles.

Painted in 1968, the present lot displays a richly textured surface, a result of his experiments with encaustic painting-a technique that involves the use of heated beeswax and pigments-during this period. The composition is “sculptural and yet the translucency of the medium breaks the rigidity into an organic flow of colour blocks that float and mould to a frequency that converges these forms to create an island. The use of browns, greys, and ochres in their varying tonalities and combinations impresses upon the viewer the idea of an aerial view of land moulding its own geography.” (Jesal Thacker, “In Search of the Akshara”, Jesal Thacker, Udyan Vajpeyi, et al, Shanti Dave: Neither Earth Nor Sky, New Delhi: DAG, 2023, pp. 27 - 28) The abstract forms in the painting are juxtaposed with calligraphic scripts derived from the Devnagari script used for many Indian languages, which he often employed to evoke bhava or feeling rather than as legible words with specific meanings. “The visual imagery, which resembles an ancient script, is recomposed in a linear or cycloidal manner, using techniques of paint, collage, and encaustics to carve out ‘sound-forms’ into the two-dimensionality of space…Dave’s conscious intention of redefining the Devanagari script…into a renewed native aesthetic reflecting its archaic, acoustic, and aureate characteristics places him among the pioneers of calligraphic modernism.” (Thacker, pp. 14 - 15)

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