Trafalgar Square

Jewish Austrian émigré Walter Langhammer came to Bombay in the Thirties fleeing the Nazis in Europe, and became a shaper of and a participant in Indian modernism. With a rare generosity, he groomed young Indian artists who would later be known as Progressives. Though Langhammer eventually returned to Austria, he carried the luminosity of the Indian sky with him, borne out beautifully in this Untitled and undated work capturing a busy square in a small European city decked for Christmas. It is the vivacity of colours that sets it apart from similar European expressionist works, which critics have attributed to his India experience.