Lot 128: Untitled

ZAINUL ABEDIN (1914-1976)
Untitled
signed ' Zainul 1967' and in Hindi 'Zainul' (lower right)
ink and pastel on paper
22 x 32½ in. (55.5 x 82.5 cm.)
Executed in 1967

Formerly in the collection of the late Ambassador Joseph S. Farland who served as Ambassador of the United States to Pakistan from 1969 to 1972.

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE VIRGINIAN COLLECTION


Zainul Abedin has been influenced by Jamini Roy, the Tagore family, Mukul Dey and Atul Bose. Throughout his work and teaching, he sought to synthesize local traditions with modern international techniques and developments in art, thus creating a new Bengali modernism. In this sketch Abedin has painted over the dark bodies with a faint line of white suggesting the skeletal insides of these fragile bodies.
"Abedin considers his work as an 'expression' rather than a 'creation.'" (Ijaz ul Hassan, Painting in Pakistan , Pakistan, 1991, p.55.) Abedin is best known for his stark series of works executed during the Bengal Famine of 1943.