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lot 15

lot 15

Anjolie Ela Menon

Untitled

oil on masonite board
11.5 x 8.5 in. (29 x 21.5 cm.)

Winning Bid: $ 15,000

Estimate: US$ 10,000 - 15,000

Lot Closed

Lot Details

Signed 'Anjolie Ela Menon' (upper right)

PROVENANCE
Private collection, Dubai
Artiana / Sale 1802 / Lot 13 / South Asian Art - Classical, Modern and Contemporary / Dubai / 6-10 December 2018

Anjolie Ela Menon is best known for her religious-themed works. Her portraits incorporate a vibrant color palette rendered in variety of styles. A non-conformist artist, she preferred the ornate embellishments and colorations in Christian iconography, particularly Byzantine art, instead of the cubist style popular with her peers.

Menon's favorite medium was oil on masonite, as seen in this painting. Utilizing a muted palette of translucent colors, Menon layered thin glazes of oil paint onto hardboard and used dry brush on the image to achieve the texture. The influence of early Christian art is palpable in the picture, characterized by the frontal perspective, the averted head and the slight elongation of Christ's features. Her technique gives the work underlying luminescence and a muted glow reminiscent of medieval icons.

Anjolie Ela Menon

(b. 1940)
Born in West Bengal, Menon received her art education at the Sir J. J. School of Art, Mumbai and later at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris. Some of her solo shows include those held at the Institute of Contemporary Indian Art, Mumbai, in 2013; Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi in 2010, 2003, 2002 and 1996; Dhoomimal Gallery, New Delhi in 2007; Gallery Arts India West, Palo Alto in 2006 and 2005; and at The Gallery, New York in 1989. Retrospectives of her work have been held at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai in 2002, and Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai in 1988. She has also participated in the Paris Biennal, 1980, and the international Triennale of the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi, 1975, 71 and 68. Some of the group exhibitions featuring her work include those held by Gallery Threshold, New Delhi, in 2009-10 and 2008; Aicon Gallery, New York, 2009; Gallery Arts India, New York, in 2005; Saffronart and Apparao Galleries, Los Angeles in 2001; and Saffronart, Hong Kong, in 2001. She was given the Dayawati Modi Award in 2013 and in 2000 the Government of India awarded her the Padma Shri. Menon lives and works in New Delhi.