Laxman Shreshtha

The Jeffrey M. Kaplan Collection, Washington D.C.

Freeman's Philadelphia, 1,000 Years of Collecting - The Jeffrey M. Kaplan Collection, 6 April 2017, lot 228

There are scratches visible across the surface which are most likely inherent to artistic process. Pinhole sized losses are visible along the right edge but only under close inspection.
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Laxman Shreshtha is one of India’s leading abstractionist painters and his works are admired along with his peers such as Vasudeo S. Gaitonde, Sayed Haider Raza, Prabhakar Kolte and Mehlli Gobhai. Shreshtha had a lifelong friendship with Gaitonde, having spent time together at the Bhulabhai Desai Institute in Mumbai. An amusing anecdote has them sitting on a bench at the Institute, spending hours watching the lapping waves of the Arabian sea and the setting sun in utter silence. After one such session, Gaitonde turned to him and said, “You know Laxman why I like you? You know the value of silence.” 'The Master of Abstraction', The Hindu, 7 May 2016 (http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/entertainment/the-master-of-abstraction/article8568685.ece) This stillness is what the two bonded on and it further translated on to their respective oeuvres.

Untitled (1994) with its shifts and balances of black white and grey is a fine example from Shreshtha’s opus. While emanating a palpable movement, it also exudes a  serenity and spirituality that is characteristic of the artist. This work was previously in the collection of renowned American collector, Jeffrey M. Kaplan. Mr. Kaplan is known to have acquired the works of various artists in depth across a number of different fields of interest spanning 1000 years; from fine works on paper, 19th and 20th century decorative art, photography to Asian art.