Untitled

Rajendra Dhawan came to Paris in 1970, where he eventually settled. Here, he was part of a close circle of Indian artists despite his introverted nature. These artists, including S. H. Raza and V. Viswanadhan, were exploring abstraction at that time. Dhawan’s journey with abstractionism, though, was different from that of his contemporaries—his works did not hark back to his Indian roots, neither in style nor in colour. He charted a completely unique trajectory for his abstract art and became one of the most recognisable signatures of modern Indian abstraction. We see the work employing colour as a means to convey emotion, while remaining open to the viewer’s reading of it.