J. Swaminathan’s use of the triangle, square and circle, the staples of the visual representation of the philosophy of tantra, suggested to viewers his early works were derived from the fundamentals of tantric art, but what appealed to him as sources were the pictorial directness and pithy idiom of folk and tribal art or ritual graffiti on village walls. In this Untitled work, we find similar geometrical patterns and intriguing symbols, a remarkable visual order in a vivid colour palette that allows us to enjoy the textured surface revealing subtle chromatic balance.
published references
Singh, Kishore, ed., Group 1890: India’s Indigenous Modernism (New Delhi: DAG, 2016), p. 207 Singh, Kishore, ed., J. Swaminathan | Masterpieces of Indian Modern Art (New Delhi: DAG, 2019), p. 36
J. Swaminathan
Untitled
c. 1960
Oil on canvas
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J. Swaminathan
Untitled
c. 1960
Oil on canvas
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