Akbar Padamsee (b.1928)

Good overall condition. Extremely faint abrasions upper right corner and lower edge. Colors in catalogue much brighter than in reality. Dark browns in face and hair much more pronounced as well as in verigated red background.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Throughout his career,  Padamsee has been occupied with the mapping of human form and the capture of its emotive qualities. The expressions on his subject's faces portray feelings of ineffable sadness and vulnerability, conveying not just personal anguish but the very nature of human existence. His artistic concerns were not that of the realist but instead combine his personal obsession for compositional order with a deep humanistic approach that remains sensitive to the experience of the individual.

His early works depicting solitary figures and heads with dense angular silhouettes gradually gave way to thinner, more fluid lines with flat planes of saturated colour. The present work, painted in 2005, is rich in tonal and textural juxtapositions with luminous ochre and red hues that impart an almost transcendent quality to the surface of the canvas while the lone figure occupies a liminal space between dream and reality as it seems to emerge from within the innermost recesses of the artist's mind, its '...essence extracted from the intensity of real experiences.' (Marta Jakimowicz, Akbar Padamsee: Works on Paper - Critical Boundaries, Bombay, 2004, p. 10).