Fruit Seller

There’s something about women vendors in a haat that makes them an appealing subject and P. T. Reddy, who grew up in a farmer’s family, could not have resisted them as a subject for his painting. His Fruit Seller is evocative even in the absence of fruit or even a marketplace. The woman in the centre seems to be having a quiet, contemplative moment even as her fellow sellers call out raucously, hoping to attract customers. With a minimal palette, the artist brings alive the world of street vendors who have been just as excellently chronicled by later modernist Krishen Khanna.