ONE WITHOUT A SECOND BY K. S. B. Palsikar - PRINT

THIS EVOCATIVE COMPOSITION BY K. S. B. Palsikar REFLECTS THE ARTIST’S UNIQUE SYNTHESIS OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHT AND MODERNIST VISUAL LANGUAGE. TITLED “ONE WITHOUT A SECOND” (1957)—A PHRASE DERIVED FROM THE ADVAITA VEDANTA CONCEPT OF ULTIMATE NON-DUALITY—THE WORK PRESENTS TWO FIGURES ENGAGED IN A SYMBOLIC AND MYSTICAL INTERACTION.

RENDERED IN TEMPERA ON LINEN, THE COMPOSITION FEATURES STYLISED HUMAN FORMS ADORNED IN ORNAMENTAL COSTUMES, SURROUNDED BY FLOWING, ORGANIC MOTIFS AND COSMIC SYMBOLS. THE CENTRAL TREE-LIKE FORM WITH A WATCHFUL EYE EVOKES SPIRITUAL AWAKENING AND UNIVERSAL CONSCIOUSNESS, WHILE THE FIGURES SUGGEST A DIALOGUE BETWEEN MASCULINE AND FEMININE PRINCIPLES, OR BETWEEN THE MATERIAL AND THE SPIRITUAL REALM.

Palsikar’s DELICATE LINE WORK, RICH DECORATIVE ELEMENTS, AND SUBTLE EARTHY COLOUR PALETTE DRAW INSPIRATION FROM INDIAN MINIATURE TRADITIONS WHILE MAINTAINING A DISTINCTLY MODERN SENSIBILITY. THE WORK EXEMPLIFIES HIS ABILITY TO MERGE SYMBOLISM, MYTHOLOGY, AND PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION INTO A POETIC VISUAL NARRATIVE.

THIS IMPORTANT PAINTING IS HELD IN THE COLLECTION OF THE National Gallery of Modern Art, NEW DELHI.