Vivan Sundaram (Indian, B. 1943) Untitled (Composition)Vivan Sundaram (Indian, B. 1943)Untitled (Composition) signed and dated 'Vivan August '91 lower rightengine oil and charcoal on paper, framed55.3 x 74.8cm (21 3/4 x 29 7/16in).ProvenanceAcquired directly from the artist in 1991/1992.Note: This work is on the artist's website under his 'Engine Oil and Charcoal drawings' series.Born in Shimla in 1943, Sundaram studied painting at both Maharaja Sayajirao University, Baroda (1961-65) under KG Subramanyan and at the Slade School of Art, London (1966-69). At the latter, he also studied the History of Cinema. Sundaram's career has spanned decades and he is known for being India's first installation artist. He works across mediums and scales and addresses issues pertaining to politics, familial and societal history and memorialisation. His early works embodied geometric abstraction and included elements of kitsch and pop art and his enduring interest in cinema led him to incorporating principles of collage/montage. It was in the 1990s however that he began working with unconventional materials, in response to the Gulf War (1990-1991) and created his 'Engine oil and charcoal on paper' series. The work in the present lot is from this series. In it he contrasts charcoal smudges with burnt oil to explore materiality and surface. This series marks a turning point in his career as it proves to be the catalyst for him to start working with photography, video art and installation; the Gulf War was the first televised war and clearly impacted him.His retrospective, 'Step inside and you are no longer a stranger' was held at KNMA, New Delhi in 2018, and featured works from 50 years of his career. He has exhibited his works at numerous shows worldwide including those in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Budapest, Copenhagen, New York, Dallas, Montreal and Vancouver and in the Biennales of Taipei, Shanghai, Sharjah, Sydney, Berlin, Havana and Johannesburg. He is the founding member of the Kasauli Art Centre, the Safdar Hasmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) and the Journal of Arts & Ideas, and is the editor of the 2010 two volume book on his maternal aunt, Amrita Sher-Gil, titled Amrita Sher-Gil: a self-portrait in letters & writings.