Buying Luxury: Buying Guides, News & Auctions

Artificial Intelligence: Competitor or Creative Collaborator?

In the quest of identifying the most important new technologies transforming the art world and creative processes - we focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in particular. It is essential to understand how artists are weaving in technology into their practice while various art galleries and museums rewrite the rules of an exhibit. It is further important to analyse and gauge the potential of the blockchain as a suitable ecosystem in commercial art.

Artificial Intelligence: Competitor or Creative Collaborator?

A letter from Ebrahim Alkazi to Gobardhan Ash

Ebrahim Alkazi and his wife Roshen Padamsee were significantly responsible for promoting many members of the Progressive Artists' Group not only in India but also at an international level. Apart from Alzaki; Mulkraj Anand, Walter Langhammer, Emmanuel Schlesinger, Rudi Von Leyden, and Kekoo Gandhy were also active as collectors.

A letter from Ebrahim Alkazi to Gobardhan Ash

A note by Gobardhan Ash on The Children Series

For ten long years, ━ I drew and painted several studies on children. This culminated in one final painting, dubbed Commander-in-Chief, complemented by oil paintings and sketches of children in myriad moods and postures in pen and ink, and in pencil. It was common practice in the olden days for eminent painters in the West to sketch or paint studies on a single subject for 20-30 years. Many of these are now celebrated artworks. Such dedication is rare indeed in painters in this country.

A note by Gobardhan Ash on The Children Series

Fine Art and its Aspect by Gobardhan Ash

The illustration and painting of the globe of ideal- the form of beauty appeared on the playground of five elements in tone a rhythmic posture by the display of harmonious posture. The awakened inner soul of mankind unifies the different sentiments by the marvelous tonal sublimation, the fine arts born in a rhythmic aptitude.

Fine Art and its Aspect by Gobardhan Ash

M.F. Husain and Gobardhan Ash NFT drops

Alongside hosting the first NFT auction (Gobardhan Ash Avatars) in India, we are also proud to announce the first-ever NFT of the iconic M.F. Husain artwork “Lightning”, an initiative by art collector and entrepreneur Kent Charugundla. This move is bound to transform art markets worldwide. The name of this initiative "LightningNFT" is inspired by Husain's historic 60-foot-long mural titled 'Lightning" made in 1975 as a backdrop to an important speech given by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Decoding Gobardhan Ash's Avatars

Ash’s experiments in art from the 1950s are characterised as avatars; primitive artworks depicting personality traits. His paintings comprise a technique composed of a scientific arrangement of colour dots, almost pointillist. His works are impeccable character studies. Listed below are Ash's avatars up for auction and an attempt to decode the same with reference to their titles.

My tryst with the Calcutta Group by Gobardhan Ash

Sometime in the middle of December, in 1949, I met Prodosh Dasgupta, Prankrishna Pal, and Rathin Mitra at the Calcutta Photo Society at 157B, Dharamtolla Street. Prodosh happened to be a previous acquaintance. The other two gentlemen, however, I met for the first time. “Why, we’ve been looking for you. There’s something we would like to discuss,” they said.

My tryst with the Calcutta Group by Gobardhan Ash

The history behind the Art Rebel Centre (1933) by Gobardhan Ash

Art Rebel Centre, founded in 1933, was formed and led by Gobardhan Ash, Abani Sen, Annada Dey, and Bhola Chatterjee. Subsequently, some of those invited to submit their work in exhibitions accepted membership. These include Lalit Chandra, Haridas Ganguly, Samar Dey, Amar Dasgupta, Sachin Das, Kalikinkar Ghoshdastidar, Khagen Roy, and Suren Dey, among others. Manoj Bose and Rabi Bose became members too, despite not providing paintings for exhibitions. The following is a brief history of how Art Rebel Centre came to be.

The history behind the Art Rebel Centre (1933) by Gobardhan Ash

The history behind the Young Artists' Union (1931) by Gobardhan Ash

[The present article by the veteran artist Gobardhan Ash, stands testament to two of the pioneering ventures, in recent years, at creating a cumulative creative space for young artists of this country ━ both of which he had been a part of. Mr. Ash was subsequently involved with the Calcutta Group as well.]

The history behind the Young Artists' Union (1931) by Gobardhan Ash

Gobardhan Ash’s Avatars PHYSICAL & NFT AUCTION

NFTs or Non Fungible Tokens are a new technology phenomenon allowing clear ownership and easy transferability of digital artwhich can be unique or in editions. In understanding NFT, one needs to understand digital art and perhaps the progression of the mediums on which art is painted/ executed. Since time immemorial - art has been painted on wooden panels, walls, paper, and from around the 16th century on canvas.

Gobardhan Ash’s Avatars PHYSICAL & NFT AUCTION

Homi Wadia: Master of the stunt film genre

Each time young Homi Wadia entered the set with his producer-director brother J.B.H. Wadia, his eyes would light up like a kid in a candy shop. His gaze was not stuck on fantastical costumes or the star-studded cast but set on the camera. This demonstrated his childhood aptitude for mechanical processes and all things technical. It was not long before he decided to dispense his studies and join his brother in the art of film making.

Homi Wadia: Master of the stunt film genre

THE WADIA MOVIETONE CINEMATOGRAPHY

Wadia Movietone was established by the Wadia brothers, J.B.H. Wadia and Homi Wadia in 1933. It was one of the first studios in the 1930s to achieve success through the production of stunt films. Lal-E-Yaman was the first talkie film to be released under the banner of Wadia Movietone. Each Wadia Movietone film served a purpose and made a social statement. Be it the Fearless Nadia era that changed the portrayal of women in Indian cinema or Nav Jawan, the first Indian film without a single song. J.B.H. Wadia and Wadia Movietone constantly challenged conventional cinema in ways more than one.

J.B.H. WADIA: FROM SPECTATOR TO CREATOR

A young boy's obsession with film was the cause of his secret trips to Bombay's cinematheques. Perhaps it was J.B.H. Wadia's heart thudding in anticipation that often broke the silence enveloping the dark movie theatre right before the big screen would light up. Mr. Wadia was a dedicated student of film since his high school days, growing up in an ever-present environment of cinema. Bombay's historically prominent locations dotted with stand-alone theatres were photographic landmarks etched in J.B.H's memories. These glorious theatres were not just recreational spots for the cinephile but institutions that shaped his cinematic oeuvre.

A note on Riyad Wadia

Riyad Wadia (1967 – 2003), the grandson of J.B.H. and Hilla Wadia, was a film buff right from childhood, learning all he could about his grandfather’s studio and work, along with the rich history of the Wadia family itself.

The beginning of the Wadia Movietone Legacy

J.B.H. Wadia (1901-1986), the founder of Wadia Movietone, was the great-grandson of Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia (1702-1774) of Surat, Gujarat, of the Wadia line of shipbuilders who founded the Wadia Group in 1736.

The beginning of the Wadia Movietone Legacy

J. B. H. WADIA AND WADIA MOVIETONE BY SHYAM BENEGAL

Cinema came to India within a couple of years of its invention in the last decade of the 19th century. Dadasaheb Phalke, however, is considered the Father of Indian Cinema as he was the first filmmaker to have produced the very first full-length film in India that could be shown theatrically all on its own. This was in the year 1913. Overnight, it replaced live theatre with cinematic features. This was the beginning of the Indian film industry which soon became the second-largest in the world after Hollywood.

J. B. H. WADIA AND WADIA MOVIETONE BY SHYAM BENEGAL

Discovering layers, Bhanu Athaiya

"I wish my mother had seen all this because it was something that was just after her heart," said Radhika Gupta, the daughter of the Oscar-winning costume designer and artist Bhanu Athaiya. Talking about the documentation of her mother's antique textile collection recently consigned to Prinseps, Radhika Gupta dotes over her mother's inherited legacy.

Heritage Offering from the Riyad Wadia Collection

In the mid-1700s, the Master Shipbuilder Lowji Nusserwanji Wadia built a grand bungalow in tony Parel, which came to be known as Lowji Castle – with an imposing entrance hall and a wide oak- wood balustrade leading from it to the living area! Lighting up the entrance lobby were several colourful stained-glass panels with the family crest and motto – “Honor and Magnanimity” along with the sailing ship at the centre of the design! Several generations of the Wadia family lived in this palatial abode right up to the late 1800s. It is recounted by J.B.H. Wadia's family members that the elite of Bombay society wined and dined at the ‘castle’ including senior members of the British establishment.

Heritage Offering from the Riyad Wadia Collection

Whispering Green: Moving towards 'Chance Aesthetics' by Jesal Thacker

A chronicle thinker, Prabhakar Barwe is best known for his thought experiments with object-form-content interrelationships. Born in the family of sculptors, Barwe’s father, Shivram, worked in various film studios, making sculptural molds for commercial use and, significantly, his grand-uncle, Vinayak Pandurang Karmarkar, who was well known for strictly following the academic genre of realism. Barwe’s spent his initial years in the Konkan village, where he was born, and his later years in Bombay (now Mumbai) surrounded by the natural and creative atmosphere.

Whispering Green: Moving towards 'Chance Aesthetics' by Jesal Thacker

Documentation of Bhanu Athaiya's Heirloom Textile Collection

An intensive documentation and study of the personal textile collection of Bollywood's most iconic costume designer, Bhanu Rajopadhye Athaiya.

Documentation of Bhanu Athaiya's Heirloom Textile Collection