Atul Bose

Acquired in the 1950s by Dr. Maurice Shellim, London 

Sotheby’s London, 8 May 1997, lot 275

Dr. Maurice Shellim (1915 - 2009) was a British doctor of Iraqi Jewish origin who spent most of his childhood and working life in Calcutta as a general medical practitioner and the doctor for the crew of BOAC (now British Airways). In the 1960s, he bought a painting by the 19th century British painter Thomas Daniell. He wrote a couple of books on the works of the Daniell brothers and this led to a life-long passion for paintings by a number of other painters living and working in India. He is known to have amassed a small collection of their works. Maurice eventually settled in London and died there in 2009 at the age of 94 but his heart and soul was always in Calcutta.