EVENING SALE | LIVE, NEW DELHI (8 SEPTEMBER 2016)

218-219 / 256

218 Saffronart | Evening Sale
Ghulam Rasool Santosh was a pioneer of neo‒Tantric art. He
forayed into concepts of Tantricism in the 1950s, following
a visit to Amarnath. “The pristine sacred site of Shiva and
the sophisticated exegetical tradition of Kashmirian Agamas
were to leave a lasting impression on his later works.”
(Kishore Singh ed., Manifestations 5: 20th Century Indian Art,
New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery, 2011, p. 151) Santosh was also
greatly influenced by the mystic traditions of the Sufis of his
native Kashmir.
Works such as the present lot “... were neither totally abstract
nor non‒representational. They were imbued with specific
symbolic connotations and fused with the mysterious
juxtaposition of celestial geometric forms, and complex
mystical colours inspired by a personal symbolic vision.”
(Pran Nath Mago, Contemporary Art in India: A Perspective,
New Delhi: National Book Trust India, 2001, pp. 94, 95) The
seated female figure, which suggests a manifestation of
Shakti, is created through geometric shapes and a precise
symmetry which is complemented by a soft, glowing colour
palette.
In an essay titled “A Post‒Independence Initiative in Art,”
fellow artist Nilima Sheikh writes of G R Santosh’s work, “The
interlock of the contour in traditional Indian figuration with
the Cubist design that had emerged at Baroda found its
corollary in contemporary exotica – the cultic celebration
of the contour via the abstractions of votive imagery and
colour field dynamics.” (Gulam Mohammed Sheikh ed.,
Contemporary Art in Baroda, New Delhi: Tulika, 1997, p. 80)
PROPERTY OF A LADY, NEW DELHI
83
GHULAM RASOOL SANTOSH (1929 ‒ 1997)
Untitled
Oil on canvas
60.25 x 49.5 in (153 x 126 cm)
Rs 30,00,000 ‒ 40,00,000
$ 45,455 ‒ 60,610
PROVENANCE:
Acquired directly from the artist
A Tantric Form of the Hindu Goddess Indrani, Nepal, 17th century
Ink and opaque watercolor on paper, 22.86 x 20.32 cm
Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Robert S. Coles (M.81.206.11)
South and Southeast Asian Art
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA),
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