Arpita Singh, Jogen Chowdhury and other artists in focus

Consigned by collector Amrita Jhaveri, it’s comprised several key Modern & Contemporary Indian artworks made during the second half of the 20th Century right through to the early 21^st century. Here we catch another glimpse of some top-notch works up for grabs courtesy Sotheby’s:

The Horse that Looked Back

Throughout his career, Husain repeatedly represented the horse in his works, and they were depicted as wild symbols of power and raw energy. His interest in horses first began in his youth through religious stories relayed to him by his grandfather depicting the animal as both heroic and tragic. This 1963 composition was exhibited at the 2006 Asia House exhibition.

Untitled by Arpita Singh

One of the most important mid-generation female artists, she often portrays the role of the female within contemporary Indian society in her humorous and disturbing paintings. Her subjects are drawn from family, friends, neighbors and everyday objects. Singh was greatly influenced by Marc Chagall, not just in palette and composition, but also in imagery.

Untitled by Ram Kumar

It belongs to Ram Kumar’s early figurative phase which not only reflects his disillusionment with the monotony and anonymity of urban existence, but is also part of a larger commentary on the unrealized promises of Independence that had held hope for a better life for millions of Indians. The figures in these 5 paintings are reminiscent of the forlorn characters he portrays in his novel, Ghar Bane Ghar Toote, which depict the isolated and despairing urbanites of India who feel constrained by the city itself, its vast faceless population and the poverty and decay that surround them.

Ganesh with Crown

Jogen Chowdhury’s subjects are usually rendered against a black background, their fluid contours tightened with cross-hatching and heightened with touches of color. This 1979 work is part of the Ganesha series that he produced during the end of his tenureship where he plays on the popular characterization of the elephant god. It was formerly in the Chester and Davida Herwitz collection and was exhibited at Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, in 1982.