Ink on Paper

Signed and dated 97

8.5 x 7 in.

Born in Lothal, Gujarat, one of the principal archaeological sites of the Harappan civilisation, Himmat Shah grew up in proximity to the excavated remains of an ancient port city, where terracotta objects, fired brick structures, and clay-based artefacts formed part of the visible landscape. This early exposure to a material culture rooted in clay would remain central to his artistic thinking, finding sustained expression in his engagement with sculptural form even as his practice expanded to drawing, printmaking, and large-scale architectural interventions.

Educated at Gharshala in Bhavnagar, the Sir J. J. School of Art in Bombay, and later at the M. S. University, Baroda, Shah was shaped by K. G. Subramanyan’s engagement with folk and material traditions and by N. S. Bendre’s emphasis on structure and abstraction. A founding member of Group 1890, his practice consistently resisted stylistic categorisation, privileging process, surface, and material intelligence over fixed or resolved form.

Although best known for his sculptural heads in terracotta and bronze, drawing remained a constant and essential part of Shah’s practice. In interviews, he described drawing as a way of “finding the centre”—a bodily and intuitive act closely aligned with his sculptural thinking. The present work reflects this approach: a solitary, vertically oriented form rises from a broad, grounded base, enclosed within a lightly indicated architectural frame. Neither fully figurative nor abstract, the form recalls the axial balance and contained presence that characterise Shah’s sculptural heads, while remaining an independent exploration within his drawn oeuvre.