Untitled

A rare painting from the studio of G. R. Santosh, it bridges the gap between figuration and abstraction. A self-taught artist who undertook training under N. S. Bendre in Baroda, Santosh did not attend life model classes. His access to the study of human anatomy thereby restricted, he did not sketch or paint nudes like his peers. In this painting, however, he attempts just such a form—a woman, her legs splayed, lying down. Over time, Santosh would come to represent the human body as represented through tantra—symbolically rather than realistically.