Benares landscape, 1960

Upon his graduation from Calcutta College of Art and Crafts in 1956, Sakti Burman moved to Paris and embarked on a tour of the great European cities. By 1960, after painting a series of cityscapes based on his travels, he began to feel nostalgic for India and envisaged this image of Benares from memory.

Benares, with its flowing riverbanks amidst masses of temples and pilgrims, has inspired scores of artists from William and Thomas Daniells to M.F. Husain, Ram Kumar and Manu Parekh; see lots 313 and 320 for other interpretations of this 'Eternal City.'