Page 175 - Iconic Masters October2023

Lot No. 144
SOMNATH HORE
1921-2006

WOUNDS - 19
21.1 x 26 in (53.5 x 66 cm)
Pulp print pasted on board
1972
` 20,00,000 - 30,00,000 | $ 23,529 - 35,294

Exhibited: ‘Somnath Hore: A Centenary
Exhibition’ at Kolkata Centre for Creativity,
19th- 24th July, 2022.

Published: ‘Somnath Hore’ by ArthShila Trust,
2021, pg. 381.

Provenance: Property from a collection based
in Kolkata.

Newspaper article about the artist with
the work illustrated.

‘Wounds’ by Somnath Hore is a series of paper
pulp print works that the artist delved into in
the 1970s. Witnessing political conflict, violence
and suffering in India and Vietnam, he became
preoccupied by the wound as a concept. The
simplistic yet bold works were created by
first, creating clay moulds. These were in turn
used to make moulded cement matrices on
uncoloured paper pulps to create Hore’s own
paper. This paper was then moulded into
gashes stained with red pigment, mimicking
bleeding wounds.

The process of creating these wounds too is,
Cover of the publication with the work illustrated. in a sense, violent. Created through cutting,
scratching and dipping the plate into acid,
these works reflected the artist’s view of finding
violence all around him once he witnessed war.
A majority of Hore’s oeuvre is informed by his
emotions and thoughts surrounding massive,
unprecedented loss due to conflict, especially
the Bengal famine of 1943. However, this series
is a unique departure from his usual sculptural
works, not only due to the medium used but
also because of the experimental nature of
the technique, all the while adhering to
modernist sensibilities.