Page 68 - Iconic Masters October2023

Lot No. 51
SOMNATH HORE
1921-2006

CHRIST
12 x 7 x 2.5 in (30.5 x 17.8 x 6.4 cm)
Bronze

Published: ‘Somnath Hore: 1921-2006’ by Arthshila
Trust, New Delhi, 2021, pg. 238

` 20,00,000 - 25,00,000 | $ 23,529 - 29,412

Provenance: Property from an important collection Front view
based in Kolkata. Artwork originally from the collection
of Yezdi Dastur.

Born in 1921 in Chittagong, Somnath Hore studied at
the Government College of Art in Calcutta. He was
inspired to study the formal Western style of painting
by all the realistic artworks he consumed throughout his
childhood. In 1943, he witnessed firsthand the suffering
and ravages of the famine of 1943, severely impacting
him and his thought process. This led to him creating
large amounts of artwork as documentation. He
joined Delhi Polytechnic in 1958, studying printmaking Cover of the publication with the work illustrated.
techniques such as etching, engraving, wood carving
and lithography. Earning recognition for this led him to
join Kala Bhavan’s Printmaking Department

Soon, he discovered his love for bronze as a medium
and started depicting human forms. These forms were
often seen in anguish and despair. An interpretation
of the beauty that lies in human fragility, his sculptures
grant his figures a humanist perspective. Devoid of scale
and sensationalism, his works continue to represent the
bitter truth of man’s inhumanities and the tragedy of
suffering at the hands of fellow humans.