A. Ramachandran

Kumar Gallery, 1970

From the collection of Mr. Francis G. Hutchins

Sotheby's New York, 24 September 2004, lot 165

R. Siva Kumar, A Ramachandran: A Retrospective, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2003, illustrated p. 242

There are small areas of discolouration to the paint which are possibly inherent and part of the artistic process. There is paint loss most notably around the edges of the painting and light craquelure is apparent under very close scrutiny. Very minor accretions are also visible under close inspection.This painting is very loose on the stretcher and requires restreching and reframing. This painting has not been viewed under UV light and appears to be in good overall condition, as viewed.
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A. Ramachandran made a series of five canvases sequentially titled Movement in 1970. This painting is most likely the fourth version of this succession. A certain degree of abstraction appeared in Ramachandran's work during this time. There is an absence of depth and the painted surfaces were flat but colourful. R. Siva Kumar notes that "The geometric, both as surface grid and perspectival depth, was used sparingly in his earlier works, more as regulatory counterpoints to the vast line-up of human figure; perhaps also because an artist striving to know reality cannot ignore the game of appearance as illusory wholeness. [...] their proportion is inversed. The organic becomes in the sparse world of geometric matter animate fragments exploring it or more often weightless extrusions on abstract blocks, or bodies breaking into a nebulous blaze. An aberration within Ramachandran's ouevre these paintings represent man as an outsider in the colourful wilderness modern man has built around himself." (R. Siva Kumar, A Ramachandran: A Retrospective, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2003, p. 128-129, 132). In essence, the importance of space is heightened in these works and there is shift in his focus. Elements that were usually on the periphery of Ramachandran's priorities suddenly come to the forefront for this series of works. Akin to Colour Field painting employed by Americans such as Mark Rothko, Barnett Newman, and Clyfford Still, this painting employs the expressive power of tone and colour, focusing on abstraction rather than form.