Important Notice

Nalini Malani often assimilates literary references into her art. Many of her works are either inspired by or incorporate the words of writers and poets such as T S Eliot, Heiner Müller, Samuel Beckett, Wislawa Szymborska, Bertolt Brecht, and Lewis Carroll. In the present lot, she paints from the lines “And indeed there will be time / To wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?’” from Eliot’s famous poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock... Nalini Malani often assimilates literary references into her art. Many of her works are either inspired by or incorporate the words of writers and poets such as T S Eliot, Heiner Müller, Samuel Beckett, Wislawa Szymborska, Bertolt Brecht, and Lewis Carroll. In the present lot, she paints from the lines “And indeed there will be time / To wonder, ‘Do I dare?’ and, ‘Do I dare?’” from Eliot’s famous poem The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock onto an acrylic sheet. She intersperses the words with fantastical imagery to generate an original and powerful piece.

A visit to an exhibition of American artist R B Kitaj’s works introduced the possibility of combining art and the written word. Malani recalls the incident, “A major turning point in my relationship to written sources in my work came in 1979 when I met the artist R B Kitaj at one of his exhibitions in New York. There I saw an artwork titled If Not, Not taken from T S Eliot’s The Wasteland. Kitaj said to me: ‘Some texts have artworks in them.’ Since then the inclusion of literary or philosophical excerpts has remained constant in my practice.” (Artist quoted in an interview with Juliet Rix, “Nalini Malani - Interview: ‘The Future is Female. There is No Other Way”, Studio International, 27 July 2020, online)

Speaking of her interest in translating the potency of literature to a visual form she says, “I’m really very envious of writers. Because it’s the poverty of means. All you need is a pencil and paper and there you go. It’s amazing how these thoughts and ideas and sensibilities and very fine emotions can feature on a written page. It’s impossible at times to visualise that.” (The Art Newspaper, “A Brush With… Nalini Malani”, YouTube, 21 February 2024)

In this work, Malani reverse paints women, animals, ghosts and a plethora of other images using acrylic, ink and enamel. She rejected the academic style training she had received at the Sir J J School of Art, which she saw as a colonial import passed to local students, and instead searched for a folk art form that would suit her needs. She quickly took to reverse painting when artist Bhupen Khakhar offered to teach it to her for a project. “In 1988, there were three of us-Bhupen Khakhar, Vivan Sundaram and me-who had the chance to make a mural together. It was Bhupen who came up with the idea of using the reverse glass painting method, since he had just returned from a workshop in Hungary where he had learnt this technique. It was very close to a technique that was brought to South India by the Chinese traders in the 18th century… I liked the medium because I realised I was dyslexic, so working in the reverse works very well.” (Artist quoted in an interview with Ambika Rajgopal, “Myth, Metaphor & Women | Interview with Nalini Malani”, Art Radar, 21 March 2014, online accessed via ambikarajgopal.co)