ABSOLUTE TUESDAYS (12 APRIL 2022)

On Tuesday, get ready to bid on a rare selection of 66 lots including oleographic prints, photographs, vintage advertisement materials and more from the collection of Cyrus Oshidar.

As SVP of Creative and Content at MTV India in the 1990s, Oshidar sought to draw from India’s rich and colourful history of printed material and find ways to transplant this in contemporary visual culture.

This journey led him to acquire a vibrant collection of historic prints and other material including oleographs, studio portraiture, painted photographs, original film posters, rare books, vintage advertisement signs and more - which he would then reimagine, reinterpret or reference in the imagery he created for the TV channel. Portraits of gods or goddesses would lend ornamental details to the visual branding of a popular MTV show. At other times, Oshidar and his team would swap the face of a character from a retro film poster or painted photograph with that of a contemporary video jockey. Even the visiting cards for heads of departments were designed to resemble the once ubiquitous railway weighing machine tickets, except that the portraits of popular film stars they carried were replaced with that of the corresponding card holder.

Part of this rich and historic collection are Ravi Varma Press oleographic prints of various deities such as Laxmi, Sri Balasubrahmanya, Ganpati and others, from which various elements - architectural, ornamental or otherwise - were repackaged and introduced on air as part of the imagery associated with various TV shows. Also part of the collection are vintage enamelled metal advertisement signs - of brands ranging from Ducati service to Bear’s Elephant Cigarettes and Devraj Bidi. Typography or design elements from these were also repackaged and reintroduced on-air. Other highlights from this collection include an L C Smith and Corona Clipper Typewriter dating to the 1940s, as well as original Indian and US release posters of movies such as Sheroo, 1957 and Yellowstone, 1936.

The auction includes both Reserve and No Reserve lots.


Sales touched a total of Rs 14,96,663(US $20,225)  Read more..

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