.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
On his graduation from the Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta, in 1956, Sakti Burman moved to Paris where he studied at École Nationale des Beaux Arts and began his explorations of the great cities of Europe. On his first visit to Italy in 1958, his encounter with the frescoes of Giotto, Piero de la Francesca and Simone Martini inspired Burman to try and incorporate their sense of monumentality and their distinctive textures in his own work. Soon, the artist perfected a unique technique, combining marbling and pointillism to imbue his compositions with fresco-like surfaces.
In these marbled paintings, Burman drew his subjects from his own family alongside a host of Indian and European mythological and literary sources. Reflecting his own life, where his Indian heritage was integrated with experiences and knowledge he gained in Europe, these tableau-like paintings occupy a world of their own, suspended between the spheres of allegory and reality.
Unsurprisingly, Burman is sometimes referred to as an ‘alchemist of dreams’, and through paintings like this one, offers his viewers an entrance into the realm of the fantasy. Here, a fluttering checkered curtain and a painted border give the impression of looking through a window or at a framed picture. Once the viewer steps through the frame, Burman offers a magical scene in which a young man and two children, likely based on members of his own family, come face-to-face with a regal, otherworldly couple. The male figure, perhaps an attendant, is dressed in medieval costume complete with feathered beret and holds up a branch on which a dove is perched. The woman seated in front of him is portrayed enthroned on a large crane or heron. Drawing on both autobiographical sources and Hindu iconography, where goddesses are often depicted astride their animal mounts, the artist revels in elevating the everyday to the extraordinary.
Talking about his process and state of mind while creating these works, the artist noted, “A sensation from the outside world suddenly hits me, upsets me. My feelings grow to such an extent that I find it necessary to give them a form in order to free myself from them. A painting is for me, an explanation that I owe myself. Silence and meditation have opened to me a world where nothing is impossible. I am suddenly conscious of a new life-force that compels me to express myself and define what I see. Next comes the joy of work, the pleasure of handling colors which fascinate me. My love of life seems complete only when I have put it down on my canvas. It is an intense joy” (Artist statement, ‘Indian Painters in Paris’, Lalit Kala Contemporary 4, New Delhi, 1966, p. 12).
In these marbled paintings, Burman drew his subjects from his own family alongside a host of Indian and European mythological and literary sources. Reflecting his own life, where his Indian heritage was integrated with experiences and knowledge he gained in Europe, these tableau-like paintings occupy a world of their own, suspended between the spheres of allegory and reality.
Unsurprisingly, Burman is sometimes referred to as an ‘alchemist of dreams’, and through paintings like this one, offers his viewers an entrance into the realm of the fantasy. Here, a fluttering checkered curtain and a painted border give the impression of looking through a window or at a framed picture. Once the viewer steps through the frame, Burman offers a magical scene in which a young man and two children, likely based on members of his own family, come face-to-face with a regal, otherworldly couple. The male figure, perhaps an attendant, is dressed in medieval costume complete with feathered beret and holds up a branch on which a dove is perched. The woman seated in front of him is portrayed enthroned on a large crane or heron. Drawing on both autobiographical sources and Hindu iconography, where goddesses are often depicted astride their animal mounts, the artist revels in elevating the everyday to the extraordinary.
Talking about his process and state of mind while creating these works, the artist noted, “A sensation from the outside world suddenly hits me, upsets me. My feelings grow to such an extent that I find it necessary to give them a form in order to free myself from them. A painting is for me, an explanation that I owe myself. Silence and meditation have opened to me a world where nothing is impossible. I am suddenly conscious of a new life-force that compels me to express myself and define what I see. Next comes the joy of work, the pleasure of handling colors which fascinate me. My love of life seems complete only when I have put it down on my canvas. It is an intense joy” (Artist statement, ‘Indian Painters in Paris’, Lalit Kala Contemporary 4, New Delhi, 1966, p. 12).