MEERA MUKHERJEE (1923-1998)
MEERA MUKHERJEE (1923-1998)
MEERA MUKHERJEE (1923-1998)
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PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, BERLIN
MEERA MUKHERJEE (1923-1998)

Violence

Details
MEERA MUKHERJEE (1923-1998)
Violence
bronze
9 3⁄8 x 14 ½ x 8 ¼ in. (23.8 x 36.8 x 21 cm.)
Executed in 1972
Provenance
Acquired while working for the German Chamber of Commerce, Calcutta, 1973
Thence by descent
Literature
G. Sen, 'The art of the dhokra images is not made by tribals: Meera Mukherjee', India Today, 15 September 1976 (illustrated)
J.J. Nazary, 'Some New Trends in Indian Sculpture', Marg, Vol. 31, No. 2, March 1978, p. 78 (illustrated)
Exhibited
Calcutta, Goethe Institut, 1972

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Lot Essay

To my mind every artist must also be an artisan, who brings to his work a devotion which moves him through the progress of his work. Like an artisan, an artist must learn to work without cease. He must in fact work harder: because while the work of an artisan has its well-defined contours, the universe of the artist is without palpable bounds. In it, he is faced, like an explorer, with new regions of experience, which he must chart and gain by means of his own skills and unflagging effort. The problems he will face will not be solved by given stereotypes or formulae learnt by heart. The solutions he will have to find by his own struggle with ideas, materials and tools. For the artist it will be a ceaseless, life-long struggle.
– Meera Mukherjee, ‘Methods in Creative Sculpture’

One of India's most distinguished modern sculptors, Meera Mukherjee emerged onto the Indian art scene at a time that was transitional, full of change and eclecticism. Borrowing from tradition and modernity, she imbues each of her sculptures with a sense of lyricism that transports her subjects from the familiar and ordinary to the magical. The respect and compassion for the common man and the mundane that shapes this transformation stems from the artist’s conviction that art existed in every aspect of daily life, waiting to be discovered.

Deeply influenced by the traditional Dhokra ‘lost-wax’ method of metal casting that was used by tribal communities from Bastar in Madhya Pradesh, which she studied and documented, Mukherjee perfected a technique for working with bronze that adapted this traditional method to contemporary subjects and themes. Her process “incorporates modelling, stringing and rolling of wax on an image core, which is followed by covering it by a clay mould, baking, and pouring of molten metal [...] Her works represent the moods of men and women in contemporary society in their various social and economic environments” (J.J. Nazary, 'Some New Trends in Indian Sculpture', Marg, Vol. 31, No. 2, March 1978, p. 83). The detailed bronze finish of her works consequently appears organic and malleable, imbuing each of her sculptures with lyricism and rhythm as they capture dynamic moments in time.

The present lot titled Violence, is an early and definitive work within Mukherjee’s oeuvre, and bears all the hallmarks of the artist’s signature style, capturing the energy of a physical struggle between three male figures. While one seems to be raising a club, the other two hold his arms and body to stop him from striking them with it. Most likely an allusion to the brutal war for the liberation of Bangladesh the previous year, which saw the massacre of several Bengali students and intellectuals, this sculpture not only captures the human face of violence, but also the spirit of hope embodied by those who resist it.

“Meera’s world in bronze is full of movement. The viewers’ eyes do not only follow the flowing contours of the figures but also the patterns, lineatures and ornamentations animating the surfaces of her bronze sculptures. None of these figures is profane in the Western sense as all of them seem to be imbibed with something of the divine and to pulsate with flowing forces and energies” (C. Segieth, Remembering Meera Mukherjee, exhibition catalogue, Bernried, 2012, p. 8).

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