- 560
Jagdish Swaminathan
Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 USD
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Description
- Jagdish Swaminathan
- Untitled
- Bearing Kunika Chemould Art Centre label on reverse
- Oil on canvas
- 36 x 45 in. (91.5 x 114.5 cm.)
- Painted in 1964
Provenance
Acquired from Kunika Chemould Art Centre, New Delhi in 1971
Condition
Minor wear along the edges of the canvas are consistent with age. There is very minor craquelure in areas of thicker pigment, most notably in red and yellow pigment in building in the lower right quadrant. UV light: scattered areas of retouching to pigment are visible under ultra violet light. These are in the extremities of the painting and the upper left corner of the central white square. The red square is slightly saturated in the print catalog.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
“Culture and nature. Both are sufficient unto themselves and yet they cannot exist without being in relationship. That is the way I see the link between my work in different phases. It is not a dialectical relationship, it is not a continuity,...” (N. Tuli, The Flamed-Mosaic: Indian Contemporary Painting, Mapin Publishing Pvt. Ltd., Ahmedabad, 1997, p. 401)
Jagdish Swaminathan’s treatise on nature carry throughout his body of works. He would use his pictorial space to convey conceptualized landscapes – with a façade of simplicity. He openly rejected the melded Indian traditions with European frameworks and would instead focus upon symbolism and abstracted natural forms.
This early work, with its bright and vivid use of color, is painted in a manner that afforded him the ability to display shapes in a symbolic and novel way. Swaminathan is displaying the landscapes of India as he sees and interacts with them. The eye within the base of the mountain alludes to ancient mythological traditions of attributing gods to natural elements and formations. Likewise, the anthromorphization of the sun also falls in line with ancient Vedic traditions. He felt a “[n]eed to grasp India’s folk-tribal-urban continuum as well as renew one’s relationship with nature.” (ibid., p. 249) Additionally, the framing effect of the square and the circle shapes around the central image hearkens to the mandala form, invoking a meditative state.
The seemingly primeval renderings of this mountain, sun, and moon are perfect examples of expressionist projection. He was a strong believer that there was an Indian psyche and experience that was separate from the influences of the West. “It was from that Indian modernism that Swaminathan drew his zeal for refining the contemporary to include the so-called fold and tribal with the urban, and to override the hiatus between arts and crafts.” (A. Vajpeyi, 'A Furious Purity: A Tribute to the Stormy Petrel of Indian Art, J. Swaminathan,' Art & Asia Pacific, New York, Vol. 2.1, January 1995)
Jagdish Swaminathan’s treatise on nature carry throughout his body of works. He would use his pictorial space to convey conceptualized landscapes – with a façade of simplicity. He openly rejected the melded Indian traditions with European frameworks and would instead focus upon symbolism and abstracted natural forms.
This early work, with its bright and vivid use of color, is painted in a manner that afforded him the ability to display shapes in a symbolic and novel way. Swaminathan is displaying the landscapes of India as he sees and interacts with them. The eye within the base of the mountain alludes to ancient mythological traditions of attributing gods to natural elements and formations. Likewise, the anthromorphization of the sun also falls in line with ancient Vedic traditions. He felt a “[n]eed to grasp India’s folk-tribal-urban continuum as well as renew one’s relationship with nature.” (ibid., p. 249) Additionally, the framing effect of the square and the circle shapes around the central image hearkens to the mandala form, invoking a meditative state.
The seemingly primeval renderings of this mountain, sun, and moon are perfect examples of expressionist projection. He was a strong believer that there was an Indian psyche and experience that was separate from the influences of the West. “It was from that Indian modernism that Swaminathan drew his zeal for refining the contemporary to include the so-called fold and tribal with the urban, and to override the hiatus between arts and crafts.” (A. Vajpeyi, 'A Furious Purity: A Tribute to the Stormy Petrel of Indian Art, J. Swaminathan,' Art & Asia Pacific, New York, Vol. 2.1, January 1995)