Page 200 - Iconic Master

Lot No. 111

BIKASH BHATTACHARJEE

1940-2006
EVENING CLASS
39.6 x 41.5 in (100.5 x 105.4 cm)
Oil on canvas
1985
Signed & Dated: Bottom Right
` 30,00,000 - 40,00,000 | $ 37,500 - 50,000
Exhibited: ‘Bikash - Beauty & Bengal: A selection of Works
from 1950 - 2000’at www.theartstrust.com, October 16, 2022
(online)
‘Coups de Coeur’ at Halles de l’Ile, Festival of India, Geneva,
Switzerland, July 1 - August 22, 1987
Published: ‘Bikash - Beauty & Bengal: A selection of Works
from 1950 - 2000’ by The Arts Trust, Mumbai, 2022, pg. 108
‘Coups de Coeur,’ Geneva, 1987, pg. 47
Provenance: Property from a collection based in Mumbai

Bikash Bhattacharjee’s paintings frequently depict street
scenes, nocturnal figures, haunting images of children, and
young or middle-class women engaged in the routines of daily
life. Each of his works invites the viewer to explore the underlying
context and symbolism embedded within it.

In the present lot, five girls sit at desks in a classroom. The girls,
especially the two in the foreground, appear to be in a trance-
like state. While the lightly closed eyes of her fellow students
give them a vacant appearance, the sunken eye sockets of the
central figure fix their gaze intensely on the viewer. One is left to
ponder the cause of this unsettling state and more significantly,
who stands before them.

Cover of the publication with the work illustrated