Avinash Chandra

Acquired in London circa mid-1970s

Gifted to a friend circa early 1980s and thence by descent

Avinash Chandra was born in Simla, India, in 1931, and graduated from the Delhi Polytechnic Art School in 1951. As a young painter, he found acclaim by painting vibrant landscapes that displayed an affection for the environs of his birthplace. He was, at the time, one of the youngest artists to be granted a solo exhibition by the 'Delhi Silpi Chakra', an artist's group focused on progression, modernism and voicing the soul of the nation. Like his contemporary Francis Newton Souza, Chandra's interests took his career on a path through London and then New York. In 1956, a few years after spending time in the Delhi art scene, he moved to London in search of further artistic liberation. Though having a natural affinity to drawing, the 1950s saw him develop his skill in oil paintings, observing the work of the French impressionist painters. He also began studying philosophy, particularly looking at Indian spiritual beliefs. Chandra had his first British one-man exhibition at the Imperial Institute in 1957. Further recognition came in 1962, when the BBC produced a television documentary on the ‘Art of Avinash Chandra’.

The present work, painted in the same year as this documentary, demonstrates Chandra’s fascination with the female form, which was to become a primary artistic focus for the painter from the mid-1960s. This untitled work displays the distinctive layering and interlocking of abstracted organic and figurative forms, highlighted with flashes of vibrant cadmium red. 

Chandra achieved much acclaim during this decade, and in 1965 became the first Indian British artist to be featured at the Tate Gallery in London when they purchased his painting Hills of Gold (1964).