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Lot Essay
Trained as a mathematician and scientist, Hari Ambadas Gade is known as one of India’s most pioneering modern painters. After completing his studies at Nagpur University, Gade enrolled as a part-time student at the university’s art school where he met lifelong friend and fellow progressive artist, Syed Haider Raza.
Gade employed his scientific background to create structured, geometrical depictions of otherwise quotidian scenes, recalling the works of the Post-Impressionist and Cubist masters. The artist frequently chose houses as his subject, revelling in the possibilities for the exploration of both indexicality and formalism. “In a marvelling balancing act, the houses are both abstract and yet dwellings in themselves; they are crowded shelters along the bank of the river speaking of middleclass lives, and yet an epiphany of colour compositions.” (Y. Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New Delhi, 2001, p. 176)
Gade employed his scientific background to create structured, geometrical depictions of otherwise quotidian scenes, recalling the works of the Post-Impressionist and Cubist masters. The artist frequently chose houses as his subject, revelling in the possibilities for the exploration of both indexicality and formalism. “In a marvelling balancing act, the houses are both abstract and yet dwellings in themselves; they are crowded shelters along the bank of the river speaking of middleclass lives, and yet an epiphany of colour compositions.” (Y. Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New Delhi, 2001, p. 176)