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Lot Essay
“The female form became emblematic of energies vital to sustaining life – iconic figures – with centrality to command their rightful importance as forces of Shakti, indestructible and omnipotent” (Artist statement, Ways of Seeing: Women Artists, Women as Muse, New Delhi, 2021, p. 159).
Rekha Rodwittiya emerged as a pioneering feminist artist in Baroda in the mid-1980s. Committed to the discourse on gender politics, her early works are outspoken and overt in their messaging. In response to several personal turns she navigated in the 1990s, her paintings began to reconcile her interest in private, family life with the collective life and politics to which she was committed.
Commissioned by Romi and Sagiri Lamba to represent their own growing family, the present lot depicts two sisters. The composition is unique for Rodwittiya’s works, which usually focus on a single female protagonist. Rendered in shades of red and blue, the vibrant colors of the painting draw the viewer in to observe the more intricate details – from the spools of thread scattered on the floor to the subtle patterns that spill out from the quilt that the sisters are making to fill the background. As they work, the two women look directly at the viewer, with piercing gazes characteristic of Rodwittiya’s female figures. At the same time, she endows them with a sense of intimacy and companionship through their shared labor of quilt making.
Rekha Rodwittiya emerged as a pioneering feminist artist in Baroda in the mid-1980s. Committed to the discourse on gender politics, her early works are outspoken and overt in their messaging. In response to several personal turns she navigated in the 1990s, her paintings began to reconcile her interest in private, family life with the collective life and politics to which she was committed.
Commissioned by Romi and Sagiri Lamba to represent their own growing family, the present lot depicts two sisters. The composition is unique for Rodwittiya’s works, which usually focus on a single female protagonist. Rendered in shades of red and blue, the vibrant colors of the painting draw the viewer in to observe the more intricate details – from the spools of thread scattered on the floor to the subtle patterns that spill out from the quilt that the sisters are making to fill the background. As they work, the two women look directly at the viewer, with piercing gazes characteristic of Rodwittiya’s female figures. At the same time, she endows them with a sense of intimacy and companionship through their shared labor of quilt making.