K. LAXMA GOUD | UNTITLED (SMILING GOAT)

Chester & Davida Herwitz Collection, Massachusetts

Acquired from the above by Aicon Contemporary in 2002 

Chester Herwitz was a designer and manufacturer of handbags from Massachusetts who first went to India in 1961 and then continued to visit the country almost yearly. He would sometimes remain there for months with his wife, Davida. Together, they started to collect art locally and went on to become one of the biggest patrons of Indian contemporary art. “In India, I saw contemporary art of incredible seriousness, pushing forward in a very dramatic and powerful way, where artists had a very close connection to their visual memory.” (S. Long, Sotheby’s New York, Contemporary Indian Paintings, The Chester and Davida Herwitz Charitable Trust, 1995, unpaginated) The Herwitzes were responsible for bringing international attention to Indian contemporary art. Their collection of more than 3,000 paintings and drawings has been exhibited globally in world-class institutions and sold with Sotheby’s in 1995, 1996 and 2000. These sales kick-started the Modern and Contemporary Indian art market and this provenance is thus considered platinum. A large part of their collection resides in the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts in galleries named after the couple. 

The goat is one of the mainstays of Laxma Goud’s art. Goud's family raised buffaloes and goats which served as the artist’s earliest inspirations and models. ‘Goats, both full-uttered and with erect penises, became a signature motif. These goats are not just symbols of rural India. In Goud's words, "No one cares for a goat except perhaps for the artist who sees in the creature the dogged determination of a people who have learnt to live off their landscape by foraging for what they can get out of it.’ (G. Doctor, Manifestations, Delhi Art Gallery, New York, 2005) Both lots 1830 and 1831 come with the illustrious provenance of Chester and Davida Herwitz, one of the artist’s earliest patrons.