Mohan Sharma

Acquired in New Delhi, 1970

Francis G. Hutchins is a celebrated author with a lifelong professional and personal love affair with the Indian subcontinent. He has penned many a celebrated books including The Illusion of Permanence: British Imperialism in India and Democratizing Monarch: A Memoir of Nepal's King Birendra. He has also translated the Sanskrit Hitopadesha, published as Animal Fables of India with drawings by A. Ramachandran, and portions of the Sanskrit Harivamsa, published as Young Krishna, illustrated by reproductions of Indian miniature paintings.

New Delhi, Twenty Cosmic Crystals by Mohan Sharma, 1970

Exhibition catalogue, Twenty Cosmic Crystals by Mohan Sharma, 1970, illustration pl. 2

"I do not have a clear picture in my mind of what happened to Indian Art in the 19th century... nor do I know what precisely is going on at present, except that among my old friends like Husain, Raza, Padamsee, Chandra, Gaitonde, Samant, who are making 20th century Indian art, I, without hesitation, include the young Mohan Sharma."

(F.N. Souza, 'A Tribute to Mohan Sharma,' Twenty Cosmic Crystals by Mohan Sharma, New Delhi, exhibition catalogue, 1970)

Born in 1942 in Udaipur, Mohan Sharma graduated from the Sir J.J. School of Art in 1965. During his time as a student, Shankar Balwant Palsikar introduced him to Francis Newton Souza, and he assisted Souza with a series of paintings, Souza Kalam, that were exhibited at the Taj Art Gallery in Bombay in 1965. A talented young artist, Sharma was awarded the Government Diploma in Art with honors, a Maharashtra state award, the Rajasthan Lalit Kala Akademi award and the Miss Dolly Cursetjee Prize in the same year.

Interior demonstrates the artist’s sharp sense of space, combining angles, shadows and shapes to create a layered plane that resembles a room. In balanced purple, green, yellow and other muted tones, the artist uses German cubist language to reimagine this domestic area in a complex arrangement of forms. Towards the upper left corner, a window shares a grey light into the interior, and in the center of the space stands the frame of an empty chair. Interior is an exceptional example of Sharma’s ability to articulate spatial dimension within a cubist context.

Exhibited in 1970 in Twenty Cosmic Crystals by Mohan Sharma, the work is described in the catalogue:

'The streak sharpness of majestically rising walls, web of crossing lanes illuminated by trolling lights, the remote blend of endless space, the mystic fervency of lonely nights in a medieval city or a vibrating metropolis, the moonlit glow of tranquil waters, lighted interiors and of course the isolated man in dark-deep crowd, haunted me, captivated my soul and with all their richness imbued my work.' (Twenty Cosmic Crystals by Mohan Sharma, New Delhi, exhibition catalogue, 1970)