Kolkata: The Fisherman’ (1979), the work of Kolkata artist Ganesh Pyne, sold for Rs 42.8 crore, about 15 times more than its estimate, registering a massive 100% surge over its previous record made at London. It was auctioned on June 11 at the Mumbai-headquartered AstaGuru Auction House. Another of his painting, ‘The Conversation’ (1977), sold for Rs 12.10 crore earlier this week.“The Conversation,” a 1977 work, portrays a skeletal woodcutter resting beneath a tree with an axe abandoned at his side. A white bird appears to be in an enigmatic exchange with him, leaving the viewer to wonder if he is simply resting or has passed away — a question that heightens the painting’s unsettling stillness. According to Sunny Chandiramani, director of client relations at the auction firm, the work is quintessentially Pyne: infused with twilight light, metaphorical figures, and shadowy spaces that blur the line between reality and dreams.“The skeletal anatomy of the figure echoes the exposed roots and hollowed knots of the surrounding trees. Yet, amidst the melancholy atmosphere, the descending bird introduces a fragile suggestion of continuity, dialogue, and perhaps redemption,” Chandiramani said.Pyne’s “Fisherman” is a tempera on canvas. Geeti Sen, in her monograph on Pyne, has described it as a work that stands out as a masterpiece within his oeuvre. Against a backdrop of twilight darkness, the work captures a bare-chested fisherman on a small wooden boat drifting over blue waters. The fisherman is shown as casting his net on a massive fish.Supriya Banerjee of Galerie ‘88 pointed out that ‘The Conversation’ was originally from the collection of INR Jane and Kito de Boer. “I know ‘The Fisherman’ was originally acquired from Pyne by Achintya Sen Gupta. He used to live in Germany. It was later auctioned at Sotheby’s London on 8 May 1997,” Banerjee said. She views the recent high-value sales of these two Ganesh Pyne pieces as a significant milestone for the Bengal School of Art. “I have been living in Kolkata for 78 years and seeing art and artists from 1965. Unfortunately, artists from the Bengal School hardly ever marketed their works to buyers. As a result, their art often remained undervalued,” she added.
