- 57
Jogen Chowdhury
Estimate
30,000 - 50,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Jogen Chowdhury
- Street Lovers
- Signed and dated in Bengali lower left and signed and dated 'Jogen 94' lower right and further signed, dated, titled and inscribed 'Title: "Street Lovers" / Artist: Jogen Chowdhury (Santiniketan / WB) / medium: Ink & Pastel / Size: 35.3 x 28.1 cm / year: 1994 (December)
- Ink & pastel on paper laid on card
- 27.6 x 35.3 cm. (10 ⅞ x 13 ⅞ in.)
- Executed in 1994
Provenance
Saffronart, 6 December 2006, lot 54
Literature
R. Mukherjee, Art of Bengal: A Vision Defined 1955-1975, Lalit Kala Akademi/CIMA, New Delhi, 2003, illustrated p. 64
Condition
There is slight rubbing visible under raking light which is possibly inherent as well as minute accretions that are only visible under very close inspection. This work is in good overall condition, 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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
Jogen Chowdhury avoided the imitation of the European and Bengal schools and strove instead to invent his own idiom. Born in East Bengal, he moved with his family to Calcutta during Partition. Later, he won a scholarship to École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and worked at the renowned print studio, Atelier 17. Chowdhury's return to India in 1967 marked a turning point, where he began producing his signature pieces like Street Lovers.
From the 1970s onward he also developed his own unique approach for the treatment of the figures in his canvases. He drew inspiration from folk art sources, including Kalighats and Battala woodcuts. The artist combines fantasy with reality to produce figures that are often grotesque and distorted. "The sheer range of characters, temperaments and manners that I observed in the people that I saw around myself fascinated me. I portrayed them from an essentially personal perspective. In my characterisation of these people, I crossed the bounds of realistic representation and let imagination take over" (J. Chowdhury, Jogen Chowdhury, Enigmatic Visions, Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan, 2005, p. 31).
This work depicts a series of characters strewn across the street, self-contained like objects, which appear luminous against a black void, their fluid contours tightened with cross-hatching and heightened with touches of pastel colour. They are slumped over in heaps yet remain wholly alive and connected with the road, captured by urban living. The gesticulations and juxtaposition of bodies is intense and a dialogue floats between the characters, both an affiliation for the street but also the relationships between each other and municipal society in general. There is a mood of isolation and vulnerability with the figures facing all directions, and limbs poised aggressively or defensively, evoking tension. Even though the scene is grave there is a comic tendency underlying it, with the figures let loose in fruitful amorphousness.
"The artist creates his works from his imagination, from his dreams, from a single image or sound of the past, from the pain of today or from contradictions of his life" (Susan Bean, Midnight to the Boom: Painting in India after Independence, Thames and Hudson, London, 2013, p.142).
From the 1970s onward he also developed his own unique approach for the treatment of the figures in his canvases. He drew inspiration from folk art sources, including Kalighats and Battala woodcuts. The artist combines fantasy with reality to produce figures that are often grotesque and distorted. "The sheer range of characters, temperaments and manners that I observed in the people that I saw around myself fascinated me. I portrayed them from an essentially personal perspective. In my characterisation of these people, I crossed the bounds of realistic representation and let imagination take over" (J. Chowdhury, Jogen Chowdhury, Enigmatic Visions, Glenbarra Art Museum, Japan, 2005, p. 31).
This work depicts a series of characters strewn across the street, self-contained like objects, which appear luminous against a black void, their fluid contours tightened with cross-hatching and heightened with touches of pastel colour. They are slumped over in heaps yet remain wholly alive and connected with the road, captured by urban living. The gesticulations and juxtaposition of bodies is intense and a dialogue floats between the characters, both an affiliation for the street but also the relationships between each other and municipal society in general. There is a mood of isolation and vulnerability with the figures facing all directions, and limbs poised aggressively or defensively, evoking tension. Even though the scene is grave there is a comic tendency underlying it, with the figures let loose in fruitful amorphousness.
"The artist creates his works from his imagination, from his dreams, from a single image or sound of the past, from the pain of today or from contradictions of his life" (Susan Bean, Midnight to the Boom: Painting in India after Independence, Thames and Hudson, London, 2013, p.142).