| Medium | : | Watercolour |
|---|---|---|
| Height | : | 20 inch / 50.8 cm |
| Width | : | 26 inch / 66 cm |
| Dimension | : | W: 66 cm Ă— H: 50.8 cm |
An enchanting composition blending myth and memory, “Two Friends” evokes timeless bonds through Burman’s signature fresco-like textures and surreal imagery. A poetic vision of innocence and fantasy.
Sakti Burman | Two Friends | Watercolour on Paper | 20 x 26 inches
This delicate and dreamlike painting titled “Two Friends” by Sakti Burman exemplifies the artist’s signature blend of fantasy, mythology, and memory. Executed in watercolour on paper, the piece is a fine example of Burman’s pointillist technique, soft textures, and ethereal imagery that seem to emerge from a mythical subconscious.
In “Two Friends”, Burman conjures two central figures — possibly women or childlike beings — surrounded by a fluid, organic background. Their forms are embedded in a cloud-like structure, with faint outlines, gentle facial features, and subtle, symbolic embellishments. The figures appear to be part of a fantastical narrative, rooted in innocence, wonder, and timeless companionship.
The faded tones, soft pinks and greys, and intricate surface textures suggest a fresco-like effect, often seen in Burman’s work, reminiscent of ancient murals. There’s a feeling of aged beauty, memory, and otherworldliness — like viewing a dream through a veil of time.
Burman often draws inspiration from Indian mythology, European Renaissance art, and personal folklore, all of which seem subtly embedded in this gentle yet haunting composition.
Like most other Indian artists who studied or lived in the French capital, Paris-based Burman’s works blend European and Indian imagery.
Born in Calcutta, Sakti Burman studied at the city’s Government College of Arts and Crafts, and later at École Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris.
Pointillism and a marbling effect are unique characteristics of Burman’s art. He discovered marbling accidentally when water spilled on an oil canvas caused a filigreed dispersal of oil, an effect he has been painstakingly recreating ever since. Incredibly, he brought the same effect to his prints, made in his initial years, achieving the marbling on the surface of the medium — stone or wood or metal — through a labourious technical process in close collaboration with his printmakers, incidentally, also employed by Pablo Picasso and Marc Chagall. In 1958, exposure to Italian Renaissance frescos by Giotto, Piero della Francesca and Simone Martini inspired Burman to incorporate the monumentality and texture of their works in his oeuvre.
India continues to inhabit his work in the form of characters and episodes from mythology or popular culture, often alluding to Ajanta cave paintings. Birds and animals, dream imagery and mythological figures such as Shiva’s son Kartikeya, referenced as the peacock-riding man, are frequent occurrences, making his work appear surrealist. For a long time now, he has foregrounded the figurative, which had receded from the art scenario in recent decades.
Burman is married to French artist Maite Deiteil and spends his time between his homes and studios in Paris and New Delhi.
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| Dimensions | 66.04 × 50.8 cm |
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