JOGEN CHOWDHURY | UNTITLED

Private Collection, Calcutta

Acquired from the above in the 1990s

Jogen Chowdhury is considered to be amongst the most important artists of 21st century India. He graduated from the Government College of Art & Craft, Kolkata and subsequently studied at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris in 1967 which greatly influenced his artistic style. A familial empathy to nature and milieu is what defines Chowdhury’s art. He references local traditions and popular visual culture to comment on the complexities and contradictions of his native Bengali middle-class society. In his own words 'What I felt quite strongly about was the need to create something new and original, something which could not be accomplished either by replication of Western Art or by falling back on Indian art, in other words, on ancient India and its heritage alone... The other idea that struck me was that it was my own characteristics that would define and determine my art and its conventions. My memories, my dreams, my thoughts, my environment - they could all become subjects of my works.' (J. Chowdhury, Jogen Chowdhury, Enigmatic Visions, Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan, 2005, p. 28-29). The highlight of his works is the line and its tactile attributes as we see in this current lot.