This Untitled work from Mohan Samant’s early years shows his attraction for art of the ancient Egyptians, or prehistoric cave art. Mural-like arrangement of Egyptian wall drawings and hieroglyphics, the mixed media giving the canvas a rough texture of cave walls, the figures in white, their sideways-pointed feet typical of ancient Egyptian iconography, all these elements come together remarkably. Besides the figures, huddled together, probably scared and worried, there are other symbols—a trident, a hand—regarded in ancient times as protection against the evil eye.
published references
Singh, Kishore, ed., Manifestations IX | 75 Artists, 20th Century Indian Art (New Delhi: DAG, 2013), p. 127 Singh, Kishore, ed., Mumbai Modern: Progressive Artists’ Group, 1947-2013 (New Delhi: DAG, 2013), pp. 428-429 Singh, Kishore, ed., A Visual History of Indian Modern Art, Volume V: Rise of Modernism (New Delhi: DAG, 2015), p. 975 Singh, Kishore, Memory & Identity: Indian Artists Abroad (New Delhi: DAG, 2016), p. 278-279 Singh, Kishore, ed., Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art (New Delhi: DAG, 2016), pp. 375, 376-77 Tillotson, Giles, Primitivism and Modern Indian Art (New Delhi: DAG, 2019), pp. 286-87
Mohan Samant
Untitled
1966
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Mohan Samant
Untitled
1966
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