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Lot Essay
Husain's visit to Banaras with Ram Kumar in 1960 resulted in a series of paintings and serigraphs inspired by the city. The serigraph images were essentially line drawings, while the paintings relied on the specific qualities of oil paint to capture the city. Here, he has shown the banks of the river with semi-abstract homes crowded together, almost overlapping with each other and ascending towards the sky and the glowing red sun. "The artist uses thick encrustations of paint for their texture, to suggest a rugged and time-beaten strength." (Shiv S. Kapur, Husain, New York, 1986, p. 46.)
"On the ghats of Banaras his bathers bathe in ancient lava, so thick are the encrustations of his impasto, so acute his sense of the timelessness of the ritual he saw performed on those hoary steps on the river's edge. Banaras Ghat, in its fusion of theme, forms, and composition is an example of the correspondence achieved by the artist between form and feeling." (Shiv S. Kapur, ibid.)
"On the ghats of Banaras his bathers bathe in ancient lava, so thick are the encrustations of his impasto, so acute his sense of the timelessness of the ritual he saw performed on those hoary steps on the river's edge. Banaras Ghat, in its fusion of theme, forms, and composition is an example of the correspondence achieved by the artist between form and feeling." (Shiv S. Kapur, ibid.)