140-141 / 168
140
141PROPERTY FROM A DISTINGUISHED PRIVATE COLLECTION, MUMBAI
78
MEERA MUKHERJEE
(1923 ‒ 1998)
Untitled
Bronze
Height: 11 in (27.7 cm)
Width: 13.75 in (35 cm)
Depth: 18 in (45.7 cm)
Rs 30,00,000 ‒ 40,00,000
$ 44,780 ‒ 59,705
PROVENANCE:
Saffronart, 15‒16 June 2011, lot 30
EXHIBITED:
The Margi and The Desi: Between Tradition
and Modernity
, New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi
presented by Gallery Espace, 20‒26 April 2004
PUBLISHED:
The Margi and The Desi: Between Tradition
and Modernity
, New Delhi: Lalit Kala Akademi
presented by Gallery Espace, 2004, (illustrated)
Artist Meera Mukherjee working on her sculpture at the Kasauli Art Centre Artist Workshop, 1978 (detail)
© Vivan Sundaram
Image courtesy of Asia Art Archive
Meera Mukherjee researched traditional metal casting
techniques while travelling through India. She apprenticed
with Bastar sculptors in Madhya Pradesh, and eventually
created her own process for casting, which creates the
unusual finish that is characteristic of her sculptures. The
present lot, a complex spiral of labourers, is cast in bronze.
Despite the toughness of the material, it evokes the
delicacy of filigree work. Mukherjee elevates her subjects
from common labourers to a joyous grouping, bestowing
them with a fluidity that is characteristic of her figuration.
Mukherjee’s work conveys a deep spiritual bond to her
roots, her history and culture.