Lot 36*
Shanti Dave (Indian, B. 1931)Untitled
25 October 2021, 10:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £47,750 inc. premium
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Shanti Dave (Indian, B. 1931)
Untitled
oil and encaustic on canvas
175.2 x 261.6cm (69 x 103in).
label on stretcher: Not to be taken from the Library.
oil and encaustic on canvas
175.2 x 261.6cm (69 x 103in).
label on stretcher: Not to be taken from the Library.
Footnotes
Provenance
Haverford College, Haverford, Pennsylvania, USA (deaccessioned): acquired in the late 1990s-early 2000s.
Born in Badpura, Gujarat in 1931, Dave completed his graduate and post-graduate studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Maharajah Sayajirao University of Baroda under the tutelage of N.S Bendre. It was here that he co-founded the Baroda Group in 1957, alongside Bendre and other artists that included Bhupen Khakhar and Gulam Mohammed Sheikh. The group emphasised the importance of promoting contemporary art and incorporated elements from Rabindranath Tagore's school, Shantiniketan, the Barnes Foundation and Bauhaus.
Upon graduation, Dave was initially employed as a commercial artist, making banners and signboards for films before moving on to making commissioned murals, for the offices of Air India in Delhi, London and New York. The present unusually large lot with its use of unconventional materials, such as encaustic is an example of the sort of murals that Dave is renowned for. The work illustrates a blend of western expressionism and Indian metaphysics and incorporates tantric elements and earthy obscurity.
For a similar albeit smaller work sold in these rooms, see Bonhams, New York, Indian, Himalayan & Southeast Asian Art, 18th March 2013, lot 127.