Provenance - Collection of a reputed art

gallery, New Delhi. Acquired

from Saffronart auction, April

2022

H. A. Gade was born in Amravati Maharashtra in 1917. He graduated in Science from the University of Nagpur in 1938. He further secured a degree in Art from the Nagpur School of Art. Gade was one of the founding members of Progressive Artists Group (1948) and Bombay Artists Group (1958). He is considered one of the first abstract expressionist painters of post-independent India. Mainly a landscape painter, his contribution in this field is considerable. One of the pioneers of the progressive art movement in India, he believed in an unconventional and dynamic artistic style. In his paintings, abject poverty and dirty slums crop up once in a while. Yet, he did not abandon his first love, landscapes, and would travel every few months. From the lush greenery of Kerala, to the stark landscape of Udaipur to the dense forests, his landscapes are highly prized. Gade first exhibited in Mumbai in 1947, and then in 1948, at the annual exhibition of the Bombay Art Society. In 1949, he was invited to exhibit at the Salon de Mai in Paris, and in the same year, he also showed his works at Stanford University. In 1954, Gade’s paintings were exhibited at the Venice Biennale.