PRODOSH DAS GUPTA | Sun Worshipers

The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by the artist's family and is recorded in the Prodosh Das Gupta family archive as edition 6/9

V. K. Jain, Prodosh Das Gupta: Sculptures and Drawings, Kumar Gallery, New Delhi, 2008, p. 85 (another from the edition)

Irregularities across the surface of the artwork are inherent to the artistic process. There is oxidation and discoloration in the work. Dust accrual in the crevices. This work is in very good overall condition, as viewed.
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Sun Worshipers typifies the technical and stylistic developments Das Gupta achieved in the 1970s. It was during this period that Das Gupta executed some of his greatest and arguably his most celebrated achievements as a sculptor. Sun Worshipers is a wonderful depiction of devotion, and the movement that Das Gupta is so adept at bestowing on his sculpture. The three figures appear to gracefully waft along, presumably toward the rising sun to offer prayers. Bishnu Dey states, 'Perhaps I overemphasise the sense of solidarity, of visible, tactile physicality, but that is surely the essence of good sculpture, and we are hungry for visions of physicality from our artists. It is so rare among us. Even our painting usually seems to deal with the disembodied. This must be one of the major reasons why sculptors are so rare in India. And the work of a sculptor of Prodosh Das Gupta’s stature therefore takes on a heroic significance.' (B. Dey, Prodosh Das Gupta, ed. R. K. Bhatnagar, Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1961, p. 6). The present lot is part of a series of iconic ovoid bronzes he did through the 1970s, creating multiple renditions of a stylised figure, both as maquettes and bronzes. Commenting on his figures, Das Gupta explained that, “Though the form here has been abstracted to a large extent, the theme or the content has not been lost sight of. I have tried to integrate the content with the ovoid form.” (P. Das Gupta, Prodosh Das Gupta: Sculptures & Drawings, Ed. V. K. Jain, Kumar Gallery (P) Ltd., New Delhi, 2008, p. 82). Das Gupta creates an elegant silhouette for the three cloaked figures, and while its overall composition appears to be abstract, with Sun Worshippers, Das Gupta retains many of the anatomical features on the figures especially their faces which have been distilled to purely geometric ovoid shapes while the bodies are evocative of an ancient Egyptian column or one of Jamini Roy's renditions of women.

Sun Worshippers is a classic example of a work by an artist at the pinnacle of his career, and bears strong aesthetic and lyrical semblances to the work of Constantin Brancusi and Barbara Hepworth.