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Lot Essay
Anjolie Ela Menon has been influenced by Byzantine and Romanesque paintings and murals, evident from the luminosity that springs forth from her paintings. In the 1960s while Menon was a student in Paris she was exposed to the technique of layering paint on to hard surfaces, giving her work a distinct burnished quality.
The present work shows a young Brahmin boy, identifiable through the thread around his chest as well as the ritualistic mark on his forehead. Menon has frequently depicted priests and sadhus in her works from the 1990s onwards. At a time when the country was experiencing "religious turbulence over issues such as "the Mandir and the Masjid", she uses these "essentially Hindu devices to chant a compelling litany of both Ram and Rahim..." (Isana Murti, Anjolie Ela Menon, New Delhi, 1995, p. 37.)
The present work shows a young Brahmin boy, identifiable through the thread around his chest as well as the ritualistic mark on his forehead. Menon has frequently depicted priests and sadhus in her works from the 1990s onwards. At a time when the country was experiencing "religious turbulence over issues such as "the Mandir and the Masjid", she uses these "essentially Hindu devices to chant a compelling litany of both Ram and Rahim..." (Isana Murti, Anjolie Ela Menon, New Delhi, 1995, p. 37.)