Avinash Chandra

Private English Collection

Sotheby's London, 25 April 1996, lot 323

There is scattered craquelure and losses throughout the painting most notably in the upper left and lower left quadrants and center right. A minor spot of accretion in the upper left quadrant is visible only upon close inspection. There is slight undulation in the upper and lower left corners of the work. UV Light: the painting has been previously restored and scattered areas of retouching are visible throughout under ultra violet light.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Avinash Chandra was born in Simla, India, in 1931. He 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 environment of his home town, Simla. He was at the time, one of the youngest artists to be granted a solo exhibition by the Progressive Artists' Group, the 'Delhi Silpi Chakra'. Like his contemporary Francis Newton Souza, his interests took his career on a path through London and then New York. In 1956, a few years after spending time in what he considered a claustrophobic Delhi art scene, he moved to London in search of 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’.

By the mid-1960s, Chandra’s work had become increasingly focused on the female form, and he went on to produce many oils and drawings in coloured inks with interlocking abstract figures teeming with sexual imagery. In 1964, Chandra was commissioned to make a fibre-glass mural for the Indian Tea Centre in London and a glass mural for The Chappell Music Publishing Company in 1966. Chandra was the first Indian British artist to be featured at the Tate Gallery in London when they purchased his painting ‘Hills of Gold’ painted in 1964. The current lot displays strong parallels with the Tate Gallery painting, both demonstrate his distinctive layering of abstracted organic and figurative forms that were characteristic of this period, both of which are some of the largest works in his oeuvre.