Prabhakar Barwe
(1936 - 1995)
Near the Bridge
“A playful relationship exists between form and space. Indeed, what is form in one context becomes space in another and vice versa. Form and space are so interlinked that it is difficult to talk of them separately.” - PRABHAKAR BARWE Prabhakar Barwe was occupied with exploring the nuances of form and space over his artistic career spanning three decades. His distinctive imagery draws from aspects of Surrealism and is based on...
“A playful relationship exists between form and space. Indeed, what is form in one context becomes space in another and vice versa. Form and space are so interlinked that it is difficult to talk of them separately.” - PRABHAKAR BARWE Prabhakar Barwe was occupied with exploring the nuances of form and space over his artistic career spanning three decades. His distinctive imagery draws from aspects of Surrealism and is based on placing seemingly random objects on an undefined background. Restrained and meditative, these symbols often appear to float in space, removed from their original context and taking on new meanings. While Barwe's art was more realistic during his time as a student at the Sir J J School of Arts in the 1950s, it would gradually transition to abstraction in subsequent years. By the 1970s, Barwe's thematic and stylistic concerns altered drastically. "Newly interested in space as a metaphysical concept, he began striving for a purity of form and colour. The fluid relationship between an object, an idea, and its translation into an image became a 'meta-level' concern. The works begin to take on a gentle lyricism." (Amrita Jhaveri, A Guide to 101 Modern & Contemporary Indian Artists, Mumbai: India Book House, 2005, pp. 14-15) The present lot exemplifies the esoteric arrangement of disparate, often recurring, images that was characteristic of Barwe's works from the 1970s onward. In Near the Bridge, a few trees, a bridge, a girl indulging in play and a building are among the several objects floating in a cloudy yet horizon-less landscape. Juxtaposed against each other and the flat background, these objects are detached from their mundane, functional role, and form a new configuration that takes on new meaning for each individual viewer. A closer inspection of Barwe's works such as the present lot reveals how "the surface of the work appears to be shifting, something ambiguous. Its appearance suggests an empty space, but it gains depth, almost casually as it were, as if it were leaving room for a "cloudy sky". The surface seems to move in mute agitation: a wavering light, some projected shadows, an ant passing by... Or rather, in a different formulation: these many objects which express an inner climate, and a stifling one. An inmost monsoon, but one withheld." (Gyan Panchal, the doorstep, Mumbai: Jhaveri Contemporary, 2015, online) Barwe was also known for his affinity to enamel paint, which he applied in bold, flat patches, in colours that were deliberately subdued in his later works such as Near the Bridge. Barwe had begun experimenting with enamel paint in the 1960s "to overcome the obligation and non-availability of oil colours despite knowing the shortcomings of the medium. With a gradual progression in the technique, the artist explains his need for certain sheen where he successfully blends the commercial paint to achieve the result of oils and beyond through a layered method." (Jerry Pinto ed., "Biography," The Blank Canvas: Prabhakar Barwe, Mumbai: Bodhana Arts, 2013, pp. 246-247) Painted in 1991, the present lot is probably one of the last works Barwe completed before his death in 1995 and is a testament to the poetic economy of the distinctive style he spent his career refining. It shows how his careful arrangement of organic and inorganic forms against an austere background "...reflect[s] certain essential features of poetic form; the brevity of elements, the multiple resonance of their meanings, a certain instantness of something grasped lucidly. These paintings do not reflect the world but rather show one way of seeing reality and at once experiencing it. The profound stillness that emanates from this space is a contemplative silence in which the spectator's eye is turned inward." (V Sharma, Prabhakar Barwe, Mumbai: Gallery Chemould, 1987)
Read More
Artist Profile
Other works of this artist in:
this auction
|
entire site
Lot
43
of
75
EVENING SALE | NEW DELHI, LIVE
17 SEPTEMBER 2022
Estimate
Rs 1,50,00,000 - 2,00,00,000
$188,680 - 251,575
Winning Bid
Rs 3,36,00,000
$422,642
(Inclusive of Buyer's Premium)
ARTWORK DETAILS
Prabhakar Barwe
Near the Bridge
Signed and dated in Devnagari and inscribed and dated ''NEAR THE BRIDGE' 1991/ PRABHAKAR BARWE' (on the reverse)
1991
Acrylic and enamel on canvas
48 x 60 in (122 x 152.5 cm)
PROVENANCE Private Collection, Mumbai
PUBLISHED Kalpana Shah, Black and White , Mumbai: Tao Art Gallery, 2006 (illustrated)
Category: Painting
Style: Figurative
ARTWORK SIZE:
Height of Figure: 6'