Page 65 - Collectors Choice March 24

Lot No. 53
LAXMAN SHRESHTHA

b.1939

UNTITLED
50 x 50 in (127 x 127 cm)
Oil on canvas
Signed: Verso

` 15,00,000 - 20,00,000 | $ 18,519 - 24,691

Provenance: Property from a collection based in Mumbai.

This lot will be offered without a reserve.

Born in Siraha, Nepal, in 1939, artist Laxman Shreshtha
commenced his education at the University of Bihar,
Patna. He moved to Bombay to study at the Sir J
J School of Arts. He left for Europe to continue his
studies and eventually attended Ecole Nationale
des Beaux-Arts, Paris, and later the Central School
of Art in London. During this period, the artist also
spent time at the Academie Grande Chaumiere and
Atelier 17 in Paris, helmed by legendary printmaker
Stanley William Hayter.

Exuding a sense of meditative spirituality, Laxman
Shreshtha’s abstract works rise from the throes
of extreme hardships he faced as a struggling art
student. On the brink of destitution and starvation,
the artist embarked on a perennial search for
answers to existential dilemmas and found solace in
different schools of thought, including texts from the
Upanishads and Buddhism. With intermingling layers
and shades, Laxman Shreshtha’s canvases emote
a sense of intrigue and present the observer with
limitless interpretations to arrive at.

Since his maiden exhibition at Taj Art Gallery,
Mumbai, 1963, the artist has presented his works in
numerous solo and group shows across the world.
He has also been the recipient of various awards,
including the French Government Scholarship and
the British Council Grant.