.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Padamsee's interest in the human body has been a constant feature in his work, and he frequently returns to figuration and the female nude in particular. Even though the subject matter is diametrically different from his Metascapes, there is a sense of continuity prevalent through a consistent treatment of the canvas, both in terms of space and color.
He began painting female nudes as early as the 1950's and uses the canvas to address the larger issue of simplifying the human body. His females are devoid of erotic intentions and are never rendered as objects of the male gaze. Paritosh Sen, in his analysis of the figure in Indian Art, comments on the frequent exclusion of the extremities from Padamsee's figures. In this painting too, we see the beginnings of both the arms and legs but they are cut off at the first joint. He suggests that rather than drawing the hands and feet, Padamsee chooses to "...integrate them with the central mass by carrying the movement through the torso." (Paritosh Sen, 'The Figure in Indian Art', Lalit Kala Contemporary 17, New Delhi 1974, p. 11.)
He began painting female nudes as early as the 1950's and uses the canvas to address the larger issue of simplifying the human body. His females are devoid of erotic intentions and are never rendered as objects of the male gaze. Paritosh Sen, in his analysis of the figure in Indian Art, comments on the frequent exclusion of the extremities from Padamsee's figures. In this painting too, we see the beginnings of both the arms and legs but they are cut off at the first joint. He suggests that rather than drawing the hands and feet, Padamsee chooses to "...integrate them with the central mass by carrying the movement through the torso." (Paritosh Sen, 'The Figure in Indian Art', Lalit Kala Contemporary 17, New Delhi 1974, p. 11.)