The Art of Collecting

Nothing adds to the thrill of discovery more than an unexpected find, especially if they find happens to be priceless pieces of art. Sotheby’s New York sale of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art narrates an intriguing collecting story about American physicist Robert Marshak and his wife Ruth. A leading American scientist, who was part of the Manhattan Project, Robert Marshak was brought to India in the 1960s as part of a mission to create peace after the atomic bomb.

- Chumki Bharadwaj

It was Homi Bhabha—father of the Indian nuclear programme—who introduced Marshak and his wife to modern Indian art. The Marshaks took cues from their host and, with a modest budget collected pieces by the same artists Bhabha supported, namely V.S. Gaitonde and Adi Davierwalla.

They include V.S. Gaitonde’s exceptional canvas Untitled (1962), and two Adi M. Davierwalla sculptures which had been all but forgotten until they were recently rediscovered by the family after being hidden for decades. Vasudeo S. Gaitonde’s incandescent red canvas Untitled (1962), acquired in 1963 in India was especially fitting for Marshak’s collection since Gaitonde was greatly inspired by the atomic and nuclear age, often reflected in the shapes and compositions of many of his paintings. The work will appear at auction for the first time after remaining in the Marshak collection for nearly sixty years. All the three works will now be offered in Sotheby’s New York sale of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art on March 16.

By Chumki Bharadwaj

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