Sadanand K. Bakre

(1920-2007)

Untitled (Townscape)

Footnotes

Provenance
Property from a private collection, UK.
Acquired in the 1960s;
Thence by descent.

Bakre, one of the founders of modern art in India, was born in Vadodara in 1920. At the age of 19, he moved to Bombay and enrolled in the Sir J.J. School of Art, where he earned a diploma in modelling and stone carving. Here, he was exposed to European and American Modernism, which profoundly shaped his artistic journey. Alongside notable artists like Francis Newton Souza, Maqbool Fida Husain, K.H. Ara, H.A. Gade, and Syed Haider Raza, Bakre co-founded the Progressive Artists' Group (PAG) in 1947, aiming to break away from the revivalist nationalism of the Bengal School of Art and promote an Indian avant-garde movement.

Unhappy with the contemporary art scene of the 1960s, Bakre relocated to London to further explore his artistic interests. His time in Great Britain from 1951 to 1975 opened a variety of new possibilities, allowing him to focus exclusively on painting. This period refined his skills through the execution of canvases in a sculptural manner, deepening his understanding of line, form, and colour, as well as his exploration of two-dimensional patterns. The 1960s are widely regarded as the most significant period of his work, showcasing a clear connection between his paintings and sculptures through bold geometric lines.

"There is nothing ancient or modern, round, square, or oblong in art, except for art historians." (S. K. Bakre)

"I paint as I like. It is a compelling passion with me to keep alive and I cannot help painting or sculpting. I am traditionally trained and perfectly capable of accomplishing completely realistic work. But my interest in forms has gone far beyond the dull imitations of subject matter, which to me is almost unimportant." (S. Bakre, All Art Is Either Good or Bad, Free Press Bulletin, March 24, 1965).

Bakre's artistic focus on abstraction was influenced by the lyrical style of Paul Klee and the breakdown of form by Picasso. Celebrated for both his pictorial and sculptural work, Bakre redefined the forms "by transforming it into a novel puzzle with distortion, fragmentation and partial elimination" (New Delhi: Delhi Art Gallery Pvt Ltd., Indian Modern: Narratives from 20th Century Indian Art, Ed. Kishore Singh, New Delhi, 2015, p.92).

The present lot, painted in 1964, exemplifies the artistic breakthroughs Bakre achieved during this prolific period. This painting depicts a stylised cityscape where bold, vivid colours dance among abstract forms and geometric shapes, evoking a dreamlike atmosphere. Rendered in muted tones of brown, red, and grey, the composition creates a fragmented portrayal of a surreal urban landscape. This ethereal depiction highlights the tension between straight and curved lines, emphasising Bakre's unique perspective on the urban experience.