Lot 151: BIREN DE (B. 1926)

BIREN DE (B. 1926)
Untitled
signed and dated 'Biren de '73' (lower left); inscribed and dated '"MAY '73" BIREN DE' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas
52 x 40 in. (132.1 x 101.6 cm.)
Painted in 1973

Purchased in India in the 1970s
Gift to the present owner, 2001

PROPERTY FROM THE COLLECTION OF A LADY, INDIA

Biren De began his career as a portrait painter before moving on to figurative works. This phase lasted until the late 1950s when figures began to be substituted for freely floating shapes. This painting was executed in the early seventies when he was fully absorbed in Neo-Tantric ideologies. The scholars of Tantric art were of the opinion that art is sadhana meaning that the act of creation is in fact spiritual practice. Biren De used geometric forms and the juxtapositions of color and light to embody notions of shakti, or the pure energies of a universal life force. His technique of applying color to canvas brings the canvas alive with its translucency and near transparency, providing the viewer with a sense of immense tranquility and a mood of meditation.