Rasik Raval (1928-1980) India, Enlaced Couple, Painting On Wden Panel

XXth cty, INDIAN ART

Painting on hardboard panel  by RASIK DURGASHANKER RAVAL (1928-1980) depicting an embracing couple.

Provenance:  The painting was purchased on January 23, 1981 at the Attichirom's Gallery in Bombay, India by Mr. Jesse Edwards, archivist and collector. Invoice will be join to the painting

The painting was exhibited in 1967 at the COUTURIER Gallery, Stanford, USA.

In 1971, it was also exhibited at the TAJ ART GALLERY for the artist's exhibition.

Bibliography:

Published in Hermann GOETZ's book, "Art of the World India", where he compares Rasik Raval to Matisse.

"Rasik Raval was born in Sabarkantha district, Gujarat. He was a student of the JJ school of art from 1944-49 et thetime of indian independance. After completion of his course in 1949, harsh realities of survival dealt a ruthless blow to him. In thise desolate days, he lived and painted off the pavement until one day his work caugth the eye of a notable art connoisseur, Farok MULLA. since Raval has no place to work, Mulla allowed him to set up a studio at his residence.
He worked in isolation and often experimented with the folk idiom determined to find the freshness for ancient art forms that existedin India. But he didn't want to move away from their soul therefore he chose stylization and technique with which to play around creating a body of work that came to represent his own oeuvre. His stylised, elongated figures are rendered in flat, raw,  elementary colors, adramatic use of white and occasionally gold. These figures show ordinary men and women doing daily chores but the artist elevated them from the ordinary by the simplicity of his form and the beauty of his lines. Raval created drama in his painting by painting the backgroung with vibrant colors and delineating the forms in white with sure and lyrical brushed strokes. The tribal dancers, fisherwomen, fruits sellers, bird and animal remind the viewer of the directness and passion of the cave painters of Bhimbetka or the Warli painters of Maharasthra.

He won the national award from the Bombay Art society 's annuel exhibition in 1952, the Lalit Kala Akademy in 1955, and Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta in 1957. His painting appeared reglularly in the Illustrated Weekly of India and Marg., and also in the Studio Magazine, London.

His work have been collected by the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, and Chandigarh Museum and by private collectors in India and abroad like Japanese collectors of Indian Art, Masanari Fukuoka."

https://jnaf.org/artist/rasik-d-raval/
Rasik D. Raval | JNAF,
JEHANGIR NICHOLSSON ART FOUNDATION, MUMBAI MUSEUM

Purchase invoice and informations are joined on the back of the painting. The number KES 250 is the private collection number of Mr. Jesse Edwards.