The Magician comes from that stage of Amitava’s career when he had begun to use blacks and reds in his canvas starkly, compared to works of the previous decades. However, in a departure from the traditional connotation of these two colours, he did not use these as metaphors for violence. This canvas is especially interesting as it brings together many of the artist’s tropes—dots and dashes, the introverted figure, a limb, and also a head, though not in side-profile as most of his other head studies are. The protagonist seems to have conjured up all the elements from Amitava’s repertoire in one canvas, thereby turning into a magician.
published references
Singh, Kishore, ed., Amitava: The Complete Works (New Delhi: DAG, 2013), p. 76
Amitava
The Magician
1990
Acrylic on canvas
Enquiry Form
Amitava
The Magician
1990
Acrylic on canvas
Image Request Form
Images from DAG’s Museum Collection are accessible to artists, educators and researchers for non-commercial, educational use. Submit your details below to request access to use this image.