Important Notice

The present lot is thematically linked to a series of large format canvas works titled Traces of Man that Rameshwar Broota created in the late 1990s. Following his seminal 'Ape' and 'Man' series from the 1970s and 1980s, the artist had turned away from figuration to semi-abstract concepts, playing with textured surfaces that alternately concealed and revealed various proto-human figures and architectural forms. While the figure has... The present lot is thematically linked to a series of large format canvas works titled Traces of Man that Rameshwar Broota created in the late 1990s. Following his seminal 'Ape' and 'Man' series from the 1970s and 1980s, the artist had turned away from figuration to semi-abstract concepts, playing with textured surfaces that alternately concealed and revealed various proto-human figures and architectural forms. While the figure has receded in these works, Broota's man features through his absence. "Broota imagined a scenario where man had disappeared but his relics, the remains of his civilisation colonised his imagination." (Ella Datta, Rameshwar Broota, New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 2004-05, online)

As Gayatri Sinha notes, "Broota's central subject is man, through whose tensions and aspirations, lusts and endeavours, the greater issues of life are mediated. God is indifferent or distant, the human 'other' is absent; the solitary man becomes the site for conflict and resolution." (Gayatri Sinha, Rameshwar Broota: Recent Paintings, New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 2001, p. 23)

A new step in Broota's ongoing search for the nature of truth, this series of existential canvases accelerated the process of paring his paintings of all that he deemed superfluous, including narrative and colour. In addition to producing a distinctive finish, the artist's labour intensive reverse-method of painting mirrors his own struggles and those of his subjects. Using a technique he discovered while correcting a damaged piece, Broota builds up translucent layers of grey, blue, brown, or metallic pigments on his surface. Then, using a razor blade, the artist painstakingly nicks away at these layers to literally unearth his image from beneath the painted surface.

"The chromatic nuances resulting from the scratching, in spite of their austerity, can be mesmerizing. Broota's magical handling of myriad textures creates a brilliant impact. Broota achieves this through the variety of ways he wields the razor, sometimes to gouge out paint, at other times to employ linear strokes or fine cross-hatchings. The minute detail is a fascinating visual experience." (Datta, online)

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