Beschreibung:

A.R. Nagori (1938-2011)Untitled (Five Figures)
circa 1980s
oil on board, framed
28.1 x 22.2cm (11 1/16 x 8 3/4in).FootnotesProvenance
Property from a private collection, Pakistan.
'Nagori came from a social background and was angry enough at inequities, to be able to produce politically committed painting of a far authentic order than any other painter in Pakistan... Nagori showed profiles of protest publicly in Karachi in the hope of causing scandal. He built his public personality as a provocateur who, if he did not upset the officials of Pakistan National Council of Arts through his paintings, read papers in seminars in which he attacked real or imagined pressure groups and individuals who had harmed him in his mind.' (Akbar Naqvi, Image and Identity: Fifty years of Painting and Sculpture in Pakistan, Karachi, 1998, p.520-522)
Nagori is known for his statement making works about injustice and the present lot comes from this series. Cut vertically into two equal parts, this is a painting of two halves. On the left side, we have what appears to be a holy man, holding tasbih beads, and a woman with a child bent in prayer, whilst on the right side we have a man, someone in authority as denoted by his headgear, and a woman and a child. The child bears a perplexed look, as the mother gazes straight ahead. The right side of the canvas is bathed in red, and the only respite is the blazing yellow sun, whilst the colours have been reversed on the left side of the canvas. The women and children appear to be unaware of the dual holy man/men, and this appears to have been deliberate on Nagori's part, as he likely attempted to show that a force greater than man was watching the events unfold. It is an engaging work and raises copious questions. It is not meant to be pleasant, and that is precisely where its triumph lies.
For a similar work by the artist sold on these premises see Bonhams, Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art, 6th June 2023, lot 27.