Lot. 24. Gandhi pencil portrait Image Credit : Sotheby's

ART NEWS

03/ 07/2017

New Delhi

On the 11th of July Sotheby’s London would be offering a rare portrait and some letters relating to Mahatma Gandhi.

The rare pencil portrait of Gandhi, drawn from life and inscribed by him has an estimate of £8,000-12,000.  Gandhi usually never sat for portraits/ photographs, making this an extremely rare portrayal of the political leader at work. The sketch shows Gandhi writing with a look of intense concentration whilst seated on the floor, and is inscribed by him with the words “Truth is God / MK Gandhi / 4.12.’31.”

This is one of a number of portraits drawn by artist John Henry Amshewitz (1882-1942) when Gandhi was visiting London for the Round Table Conference in 1931, a series of conferences organized by the British Government to discuss constitutional reforms in India.

The letters were written by Gandhi to the Bose family. The most important of them are addressed to Sarat Chandra Bose himself, and include key comments on the pivotal partition of Bengal in the months before his assassination, providing a vivid impression of the intense political pressures that Gandhi faced in his final months and his dreams for the future of India.

For more information log on to www.sothebys.com