Property from a Very Important Private CollectionGulammohammed Sheikhb. 1937Magician and MysticGouache on arches paperSigned and dated in Gujarati lower right22 ¾ x 30 in. (57.8 x 76.2 cm.)Executed in 1998Christie's Hong Kong, Southeast Asian and 20th Century Indian Pictures, 28 April 2002, lot 100Kahat Kabir, Gouaches by Gulammohammed Sheikh, exhibition catalogue, Vadehra Art Gallery, 1998"I have admired Kabir since my school days, and for many reasons. For one thing, Kabir always spoke of the individual: tera sain tujh mein hai, jag sake to jag / your preceptor is within you, awake to see him... Yet his life and words represent pluralities. There was no one religion, or one system or one belief or one idea, but multiple systems, multiple beliefs, multiple religions and multiple ideas." - Gulammohammed Sheikh ('Imagining Kabir: Art & Conversations with Gulammohammed Sheikh', Stories, http://ajabshahar.com/stories/details/9/Imagining-Kabir)Gulammohammed Sheikh found an enduring source of inspiration in the writings of Kabir, the 15th century poet-saint. With lyrical combinations of shape and color, the present gouache work is imbued with a mysticism directly informed by the stories and messages of Sheikh's great muse.New Delhi, Vadehra Art Gallery, Kahat Kabir, Gouaches by Gulammohammed Sheikh, 25 December 1998 - 5 January 1999