68-69 / 168
68
69
36
GANESH PYNE
(1937 ‒ 2013)
The Masks
Signed and dated in Bengali (lower right)
1994
Tempera on canvas pasted on mountboard
21 x 23 in (53.6 x 58.5 cm)
Rs 55,00,000 ‒ 65,00,000
$ 82,090 ‒ 97,015
PROVENANCE:
Bodhi Art, New Delhi
Saffronart, 19‒20 September 2012, lot 21
Toys and masks made repeated appearances in Ganesh Pyne’s work. Placed beside skulls,
detached limbs and disintegrating flesh, they perhaps represent a ‘safe‒space’ within the
gloomy shadows and haunting images of death in his compositions. In the present lot, two
figures, one wearing a skull mask and the other, a silhouette holding a toy mask, appear to be
in conversation. The dark palette, subtle gradation and texture lend the painting a surrealist
air. Writer Shiladitya Sarkar observes that “Pyne’s repertoire resonates with autobiographical
references to childhood.” (Shiladitya Sarkar,
Thirst of a Minstrel: The Life and Times of Ganesh
Pyne
, New Delhi: Rupa & Co., 2005, p. 60) Growing up in Calcutta in the 1940s, Pyne witnessed
first‒hand, the carnage that accompanied the 1946 communal riots and Partition a year later.
Additionally, Pyne’s childhood was punctuated by a series of personal losses, including the
deaths of his father and grandmother. His visual language is marked by the violence and
tragedy he experienced in his early years.
PUBLISHED:
Ella Datta,
Ganesh Pyne: His Life and Times
,
Kolkata: Centre for International Modern
Art (CIMA), 1998, p. 97 (illustrated)
Shiladitya Sarkar,
Thirst of a Minstrel: The
Life and Times of Ganesh Pyne
, New Delhi:
Rupa & Co., 2005 (illustrated)