Important Notice

The present lot is a monumental four-sided sculpture composed of cast bronze panels in bas relief. Among the largest of Mukherjee's non-public sculptures, the two main sides are made of smaller sections joined together. One side shows a man seated cross-legged, holding a weighing scale, or balance. On the opposing side, two women are seen walking amid foliage, balancing pots on their heads, a rural scene Mukherjee would have seen often during... The present lot is a monumental four-sided sculpture composed of cast bronze panels in bas relief. Among the largest of Mukherjee's non-public sculptures, the two main sides are made of smaller sections joined together. One side shows a man seated cross-legged, holding a weighing scale, or balance. On the opposing side, two women are seen walking amid foliage, balancing pots on their heads, a rural scene Mukherjee would have seen often during her extensive travels across India. Mukherjee captures a multi-layered juxtaposition between female and male, prakriti and purusha, nature and justice or rationality, in her title: Balance. An artist committed to social causes and her own cultural and artistic roots, Mukherjee offers here, a multitude of nuanced interpretations to the notion of "balance" as an intellectual ideal. In 1995, this work was included in an exhibition at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture in what was then Calcutta, and acquired by an eminent collector.

Deeply interested in traditional sculpting traditions, Mukherjee travelled across India in the 1960s and 1970s, learning about metal-working techniques while compiling reports for her book, Metal Craftsmen of India. During this time, she apprenticed with Bastar sculptors in Madhya Pradesh, where she learnt the Dhokra method of casting-also known as cire perdue or lost wax-a technique that has existed in India for nearly 4,500 years. Mukherjee eventually invented her own sculpting process, first creating her work in wax, then building it up and adding surface decoration using wax strips and rolls. The present lot is an ambitious work for Mukherjee, who is best known for such smaller scenes of rural life. Mukherjee finds here, the perfect balance between the delicacy of her fine sculpting technique and the weightiness of large, cast bronze panels.

Mukherjee's sculptures, whether smaller, fine filigree rural scenes, Baul singers, or large public sculptures, all have a common humanism. As seen in the present lot, she offers realistic scenes of the dignity of human endeavour to evoke a higher meaning to our existence.

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