Signed 'Sakti Burman' (lower centre right)
Further inscribed and dated 'The artist drawing Durga / 2013 / 162 x 130 cm.' (on the reverse)

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, France
The Fine Art Advisory, Dubai
Private Collection, Dubai

LOT ESSAY
Drawing from varied religious traditions folklores as much as he borrows from his everyday encounters, Sakti Burman's frames are graced by families and friends often seen accompanying gods, nymphs, heroes, and celestial emissaries into ethereal fantasy and reverie. Influenced by different cultures, Burman presents a confluence of diverse histories, intending to transcend boundaries and emphasise the spiritual and human oneness of all systems.

Durga, the Supreme Shakti, is worshiped with utmost devotion in the Hindu religion. The Goddess of strength, she is with a multi-dimensional demeanour, not only a nurturer but also a protector. She is cradling baby Ganesha in her lap in the true essence of motherhood and divinity while her eight arms extend to eight directions; a weapon is held in each to protect her devotees from all evil.

Rosa Maria Falvo, speaking about the artist’s work posits, "Sakti Burman manipulates as much as the visual space allows, creating an interiorized atmosphere…Drawing on his cultural affiliations with Bengal and a convivial appreciation for people, Burman orchestrates a charming interplay between imagination and experience. The artist’s visual language fuses his storytellers with the metaphysical modalities of history. Its seduction lies in its originality of perspective. However symbolic or figurative, he is utterly personal. And his figures appear as independent entities...His culturally kaleidoscopic approach - quite literally inspired by its Greek etymology (‘observing beautiful forms’) - is afforded by the fact that he migrated to France as a young man and was adopted through study and marriage into a foreign culture. So his work tumbles the viewer into a series of multiple and hybrid experiences. Like a palimpsest, Burman’s choice of content, often reliant on daydreams or memories, is erased, re-written, and superimposed on ancient motifs and the promise of fresh ideas. This kind of augmented reality, melding and layering people and places, makes for his unique style of representation." (B.N. Goswamy and Rosa Maria Falvo, Sakti Burman: A Private Universe, Skira, Milan, 2014, pg. 11 & 12)