Satish Sinha (1893 - 1965)

Acquired from Delhi Art Gallery

Mother and Child: Good overall condition as viewed. Very minor horizontal cracks to board throughout surface, consistent with medium. Nude Figure: Occasional minor losses, visible in the catalog illustration. Possible frame abrasions at top edge, also visible in the catalog illustration. Very minor horizontal cracks to board throughout surface, consistent with medium.
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A significant painter during the Orientalist era of Abanindranath Tagore, Calcutta-born Satish Sinha represented West Bengal in Lalit Kala Akademi in New Delhi. He studied under Percy Brown and Jamini Prakash Ganguly at the Government College of Art, later becoming its officiating Principal as well as the principal of the Indian College of Art and Draughtsmanship in Dharamtolla Street.

It is extensively known that Sinha consistently painted in the Western academic and realistic style, and that his forte lies in his rendering of the female form. The main image of this lot exemplifies this capacity. He skillfully utilizes lambent light to capture the folds of the rose and chartreuse drapery, to highlight the subtle contours of the skin, and to illustrate the simple, domestic backdrop. The arrangement of the nursing mother and her child forms a triangle that dominates the canvas, creating a strong and stable composition which ultimately conveys the sense of security relayed from the maternal. The painting on reverse is composed of a contemplative, supine nude man in tranquil repose reclining on kaleidoscopic sheets in iridescent hues, diagonally fitting the picture plane. Sinha’s graceful modeling of the human form, such that every muscle and curve of the body is documented, was inspired by Raja Ravi Varma's paintings. The curved shape of the man’s body mimics the circular edges of his blankets, merging in symbiosis with the fabric beneath him, in harmony with his environment. Executed in such verisimilitude, Sinha’s paintings epitomize a sense of universal beauty.