ART NEWS: Sotheby's auction rare Gandhi portrait & letters | 11th July London

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


