The only book illustration ever made by Amrita Sher-Gil and the first essay published on her.
The illustration was drawn by Sher-Gil for her childhood friend Baldoon Dhingra and reproduced as a frontispiece for his collection of poems titled SYMPHONY OF PEACE, published in Cambridge by Bowes & Bowes in 1938. Dhingra [1909-1979] was studying there at the time.
The frontispiece shows a woman playing the sitar, another sitting next to her and two standing listening to her. Amrita Sher-Gil's full printed signatures are seen at the bottom right of the drawing. The book has original green cover and was printed in Cambridge.
pp. ix, 15
The drawing has been reproduced in Vol 2, p. 424, of "Amrita Sher-Gil: A Self-Portrait in Letters & Writings" edited by Vivan Sundaram [2010] and is based on Sher-Gil's 1937 painting 'Veena Players'. Also see Vol 1, p. 76, of the same book.
Dhingra had this book and two single poems in book form professionally bound together in cloth witha leather, gilt-embossed title ticket pasted on front cover which reads: POEMS BY BALDOON DHINGRA.
The other two books are:
COMES EVER THE DAWN with a frontispiece and 4 text illustrations by SHEIKH AHMED
Dedicated to Svetoslav Roerich
Printed in Lahore at Ripon Press
No date [c. 1930s]
No pagination [pp. 7] with original grey cover bound in.
and
MOUNTAINS with a frontispiece by RAZIA SIRAJ-UD-DIN
Lahore: Printed at Northern India Printing & Publishing Co.
1939
pp. 6 with cream coloured cover bound in
p. 7 has an appreciation of SYMPHONY OF PEACE by Rabindranath Tagore.
Evidently the 3 books were bound together in a limited number of copies by Dhingra.
In very good condition withmarbled endpapers but the spine and part of front cover faded.
Size 10 x 6.5 inches
Artist Sheikh Ahmed, under whom artist Krishen Khanna apprenticed in Lahore in the 1940s, married Anna Molka Ahmed [1917-1995], a Polish-Russian artist who subsequently settled down in Pakistan.
Razia Sirajuddin was an art critic and this is her only known art work. She wrote an introduction to CHUGHTAI'S PAINTINGS which the great Pakistani artist first published in 1938.
The only known set ofthese books, similarly bound, is in the Chughtai Museum in Lahore. See http://blog.chughtaimuseum.com/?p=2273
And a copy of the book with Sher-Gil frontispiece is with artist Vivan Sundaram. No other copies are known.
THE FIRST CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OFAMRITA SHER-GIL, WHEN SHE WAS ALL OF 23
THE ART OF AMRITA SHER-GIL by J. P. Foulds
1-page essay with 2 sepia plates in complete issue of THE FOUR ARTS ANNUAL 1936-37, published in Calcutta
Editorial Board: A. Coomarswamy and O.C. Gangoly
Hardback with cover picture specially made for the issue by Nandalal Bose. Upper cover detached.
The 67-page annual has numerous other important paintings and essays contributed by Abanindranath Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore, Nicholas Roerich,Sri Aurobindo, Humayun Kabir and Madame Sophia Wadia. Plates include those by the three Tagores, Roerich and Nandalal Bose.
MARG - A MAGAZINE OF ARCHITECTURE & ART
The extremely rare Vol. 1 No. 1 [October 1946] issue of the Bombay journal with 2 essays on Amrita Sher-Gil:
THE ART OF AMRITA SHER-GIL by Francis Watson [2 pages with 1 sketch]
SOME REMINISCENCES OF AMRITA SHER-GIL by Baldoon Dhingra [2 pages with 2 sketches]
This lot will be sold in "as is" condition.
There may be some minor tears/creases scratches, or holes commensurate with age that may not be visible in the images.
The books on sale in this auction are rare, out-of-print and otherwise collectible, dating from the 19th century on wards. The technology and material for printing and binding books has evolved over the last few centuries. From being the exclusive preserve of Clergy and Kings to an item of everyday application, the availability and use of books has also evolved over time. Books age over time and deterioration in a book's condition depends on many factors, including the original materials used and conditions of usage over time. Books will often show signs of foxing, fading, shelf-ware or dust jacket damage through usage. Prolonged storage may also cause wormhole damage or water stains.
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