Page 165 - Iconic Master

Lot No. 93

PRABHAKAR KOLTE

b. 1946
UNTITLED
74 x 125 x 1 in (188 x 317.5 x 2.5 cm)
Mixed media on board (5 panels)
1991
Signed & Dated: Bottom Left
` 15,00,000 - 20,00,000 | $ 18,750 - 25,000
Provenance: Property from a collection based in
Mumbai. Artwork was acquired by the present
owner directly from the artist

Born in 1946, Prabhakar Kolte earned a diploma in
painting from Sir J J School of Art, Bombay, in 1968.
Early in his career, he freelanced as an illustrator
and worked as a designer at Bombay Dyeing. Kolte’s
early works were strongly influenced by Paul Klee
and his lyrical lines. Like Klee, Kolte also found his
inspiration in nature-aiming to paint in harmony with
nature, guided by intuition rather than imitation or
direct reference.
For Kolte, painting is a deeply meditative process.
He draws inspiration from the thirteenth-century
Marathi saint Dnyaneshwar’s commentary on the
Bhagavad Gita. Kolte’s canvases are free from
representational imagery, instead built from layers
of dripping paint. His work is often dominated by
a single hue, like a symphony of colour, revealing
and concealing layers beneath, with hints of
architectural or landscape forms occasionally
emerging. In the early 1980s, he explored installation
and performance art.

Kolte taught at his alma mater from 1974 to 1994
before leaving to focus on painting full-time.
His first group exhibition was at the Lalit Kala
Akademi, New Delhi, in 1972, commemorating the
silver jubilee of India’s Independence. Kolte lives and
works in Mumbai.