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Saffronart | Evening Sale
Sheikh has written and spoken extensively about multiple
memories and layering in his art. His work is informed by “...a
consciousness of the surreal in the seemingly mundane.... Though
the autobiographical reference has been an important part of
his practice, Sheikh has found it possible to reach for reflections
on the historical and the civilizational through the device of the
autobiography. Musings on place, on the cultural environment
of the individual are of importance, to him; the physical and the
transcendental meet in his work.” (contemporaryindianart.com,
online)
Soon after Sheikh painted
Recurring Image
, he became a member
of Group 1890, a short‒lived collective founded by J Swaminathan.
In 1963, they held their first and only group exhibition, with
a manifesto which, above all, held the creative act of painting
superior to the work of art itself. According to them, a work of
art was “unique and sufficient unto itself, palpable in its reality
and generating its own life.” (
Critical Collective
, online) The present
lot can be interpreted through the lens of this manifesto, with
Sheikh’s “inquiry into the city, the self” reflected in the “imagined,
reimagined, recreated” image which is valuable as much for its
physicality as for the journey which led to its creation.
The present lot, priced at the second highest price of INR 600,
listed in the
Gulam Sheikh August 63
exhibition catalogue.
Images courtesy of the artist
Inscription on the reverse of the painting with title, medium, artist name, address and price
57
PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE FRENCH COLLECTION
19
GULAM MOHAMMED SHEIKH
(b. 1937)
Recurring Image
Signed and dated ‘Sheikh 62’ (centre right);
inscribed and dated ‘RECURRING IMAGE /
GULAMMOHAMMED SHEIKH / 1962’ and bearing
Lalit Kala Akademi label (on the reverse)
1962
Oil on canvas
35.75 x 32.5 in (90.6 x 82.5 cm)
Rs 65,00,000 ‒ 85,00,000
$ 98,485 ‒ 128,790
PROVENANCE:
From the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Charles D Alexander