Akbar Padamsee (b. 1928)

In a retrospective essay on Akbar Eunice de Souza writes 'most of the figures evoke a sense of vulnerability and anguish, yet none of them are simple victim figures.  They are not merely alone, but essentially separate from the viewer.'  This solitary state is partly explained by the artist himself who states 'expression is all the more powerful when it is about a solitary figure or just a face.' (A K Datta, 1992, p. 2.)  Yet for the artist, it is the creative process that remains of the utmost importance. Color, form and a coherent visual language are the central theme of Padamsee's work. The application of the oil on canvas and the planes of flat color applied with a palette knife at an angle is at once remiscent of his Metascapes and in many ways the overall treatment of the canvas can be considered a figurative forerunner to that series.