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Before the Figure: Manjit Bawa and the Free-Floating Form

Manjit Bawa is most often approached through his mythic protagonists—Krishna, animals, lovers—held in suspension against vast, luminous grounds. Yet the language that carries these narratives begins earlier, as form: rounded, pliant, weightless. The 1977 abstract canvas Untitled (Free Floating Form) under discussion foregrounds the unit before it becomes figuration. It is not an outlier, separated from Bawa’s later world; it is a concentrated glimpse of the grammar he would go on to expand.

Manjit Bawa: the lyrical painter

Once upon a time, a dreamer derived his painterly language from Indian mythological tales, legends, and fables rich in moral and spiritual lessons. Manjit Bawa (b. 1941) introduced fragments of his thoughts, ideas, and poetry into the rational world throughout his artistic oeuvre. Born in Dhuri, Punjab, Bawa's childlike fascination with music, spirituality, and philosophy breathed heavily on his canvas. Manjit Bawa's artworks are mystical musicals that strike a chord and capture a dream.