Important Notice

Born in 1911, K.K. Hebbar was one of the earliest proponents of modern Indian art, and his unique and confident idiom has inspired several generations of artists in the country. Drawing from both Indian and Western artistic canons, Hebbar explains, "I have striven to assimilate in my paintings what I think is the best of my cultural heritage and of other cultures with which I have come into contact, while retaining my individual responses to... Born in 1911, K.K. Hebbar was one of the earliest proponents of modern Indian art, and his unique and confident idiom has inspired several generations of artists in the country. Drawing from both Indian and Western artistic canons, Hebbar explains, "I have striven to assimilate in my paintings what I think is the best of my cultural heritage and of other cultures with which I have come into contact, while retaining my individual responses to life's experiences. I believe firmly that one's artworks are generated in response to an intense feeling of one's ethos. I have sought to discover my inner self and to follow the path it directs for my art" (S.I. Clerk and K.K. Hebbar, "A Memoir on the Work of a Painter in India", Leonardo, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1978, p. 7).

The present lot, a portrait of a village woman sifting grain, underscores both his social concerns and his mastery of line and colour. "In the paintings done during the 1950's there is evidence of my reactions to social conditions, not only the sorrows but also the joys of people, however I did not sacrifice elements of pictoral design" (Ibid. p. 4).

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