Akbar Padamsee (b. 1928)

Acquired directly from the artist by the current owner's parents in 1968, with the assistance of Professor Nicolas Gyenes, a patron of the arts who lived in Paris during the 1950s and 60s

This painting has recently been cleaned, consolidated and lightly varnished. The surface of the canvas is undulating and would benefit from re-stretching. There are areas of craquelure present throughout, particularly in areas of thicker black paint around the houses. The painting is stable and in good overall condition for its age. As viewed.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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This very early luminous landscape demonstrates Padamsee's mastery of colour, whereby his compositions are made up of a precise set of tonal and textural structures. The artist states "...colours expand and contrast, colours travel on the surface of the static painting... colour trajectory is strategy... A colourist needs to master the art of silencing some colours, so as to render others eloquent." (Akbar Padamsee quoted in India: Myth and Reality, Aspects of Modern Indian Art, Oxford, 1982, p.17)

'In his first landscapes as in his first faces, Padamsee cuts out the sentimental. What marks these canvases which he painted in 1953 is a simple order in which everything that smacks of the romantic is cut out... though there is a perfect balance in the arrangement of the trees in the landscape painted in 1956 there is nothing pretty about it. It has rather a starkness which without being drab makes one think of the essential loneliness of man... He builds each landscape slowly, brick by brick, almost as if it were a building, always intent on the rhythm inherent in the point counterpoint of planes... It is always the composition of planes and colours which give form to what Padamsee has to say. (Shamlal, Padamsee, Sadanga Series, Vakils & Sons Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai, 1964, pp.6-8)