Exhibitions & Events

The Journey So Far

For twenty years, The Noble Sage has championed the finest modern and contemporary art from India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan bringing the colours, histories, and quietly revolutionary spirit of South Asian art to London. This May, we celebrate two decades of collecting with an exhibition that is part retrospective, part revelation. The Journey So Far brings together works spanning the full breadth of the collection: from pioneering masters of the Madras Art Movement to visionary artists working across painting, drawing and mixed media. Every piece in this show carries a story of a country, a moment, a way of seeing the world. Artists in the exhibition include: K.C.S. Panniker · R.B. Bhaskaran · S. Dhanapal · K.M. Adimoolam · A.P. Santhanaraj · C.J. Anthony Doss · G. Raman · P. Gopinath · Achuthan Kudallur · Premalatha Seshadri · M. Natesh · T. Athiveerapandian · M. Senathipathi · Pradeep Puthoor · Shanti Panchal · Prafulla Mohanti · Dante Elsner · Tasaduq Sohail · Anthony Christian · Anoma · K. Benitha Perciyal · and more If you would like to attend the Private View & Grand Opening on Tuesday 26th May, contact the gallery with your name and postal address on info@thenoblesage.com so an invite and catalogue may be sent out to you for the show. Regular directorial tours and events run throughout the exhibition. For full details visit www.linktr.ee/thenoblesage

A.P. SANTHANARAJ (1932-2009)

Link to attend the Private View on the 13th July 6-8pm: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ap-santhanaraj-1932-2009-modern-contemporary-art-from-south-india-tickets-660400534777?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshwebdesktop About the Exhibition The Madras College of Arts and Craft in India was the first art school officially set up by the British in 1850. It is the least documented and considered, the interest historically falling toward Bombay, Baroda, Calcutta, and Delhi. This side-lining had the obverse effect of allowing a southern idiom to flourish, particularly in Tamil Nadu. Today there is an urgent need to globally spotlight the work of these artists as a parallel discourse to that that occurred elsewhere in India. This exhibition project is a significant stepping-stone to this end. A.P. Santhanaraj (1932-2009) is one of the most influential artists of the second wave that followed K.C.S. Paniker and S. Dhanapal out of the Madras College of Arts and Craft. Santhanaraj forged an artistic style of his own dedicated to ascertaining the various complexities of pictorial space through abstract engagement with figurative subject matter. Crucial to his work from the start was his love of line: its meandering through pictorial space, defining and dividing in its wake, shaping, and destroying form, aiding, and inhibiting light and colour. His spontaneous free line inspired his colour palette and archetypes to emerge, especially the female heroine or lovers in an embrace. These archetypes would appear from his subconscious through the jagged lines and the spatial areas they displaced within his process. Santhanaraj saw his line as fuelled by divine power. A devout Christian himself, his understanding of artmaking related just as much to Hindu interpretations of Shiva Nataraja creating and destroying in its wake to form life. To his last days, Santhanaraj experimented with abstraction and unconscious figuration. His paintings began with the placement of random pieces of paper on the canvas. These are then moved around the pictorial space whilst the canvas or paper itself is intermittently rotated and inspected from all angles. The methodology reveals symmetry with Jackson Pollock, a painter who in his abstraction would circle the canvas on the floor like a panther meeting its prey. Following this Santhanaraj would remove the pieces of paper, having logged the shapes to memory, and create imagery through line working from their memory. It is from this process that figuration would emerge. The resulting works have an aesthetic appeal similar to the art of M.F. Hussain though with more oscillation toward the abstract. This show will also feature the work of: - S. DHANAPAL - K.M. ADIMOOLAM - ACHUTHAN KUDALLUR - P. GOPINATH - S. RAVI SHANKAR - T. ATHIVEERAPANDIAN - G. RAMAN - K. BENITHA PERCIYAL - ALPHONSO DOSS - C. DAKSHINAMOORTHY - M. NATESH - R.B. BHASKARAN - PREMALATHA SESHADRI Link to attend the Private View: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ap-santhanaraj-1932-2009-modern-contemporary-art-from-south-india-tickets-660400534777?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshwebdesktop

UNUSUAL BODIES

This exclusive Artsy exhibition can be visited by simply going to this URL: https://www.artsy.net/show/the-noble-sage-collection-unusual-bodies?sort=partner_show_position The exhibition features the work of the following artists: Anoma Anthony Christian M. Natesh Pradeep Puthoor M. Siva K. Benitha Perciyal Gayatri Gamuz Priyantha Weerasurya

Dante Elsner (1920-1997): THE WORK

In May, The Noble Sage, in association with Jewish Book Week, will be holding an exhibition of the drawings and paintings of the late Polish, Jewish-born London artist, Dante Elsner (1920-1997). The exhibition of more than 23 works from his familys private collection will be an introduction to this remarkable painter that dedicated his life in London to a new spiritual artistic practise. Dante Elsners fascinating story begins in Krakow, Poland, where he was born to a middle class liberal Jewish family. His parents had hoped for a medical career for Dante when the Second World War broke out in 1939 and they had to flee to the Russian side of divided Poland. When Hitler broke his pact with Stalin in 1941, Nazi occupation proved too dangerous for the family. The next year, Elsners father and brother and then his mother were rounded up and taken to the Sobibor and Belzec Death Camps. Elsner miraculously escaped and for two years lived on instinct alone in the forest. Traumatised by what he had been through, and yet indebted to his inner voice that had saved him, Elsner found his way to Krakow to study fine art. When, again, Poland began to be unstable, Elsner left for Paris. In Paris, the artist lived in extreme poverty in an attic room with no heating or running water. He ate in soup kitchens to survive, taking odd jobs wherever he could and using any money he made to produce art. When he ran out of canvases he would paint on his shirts. Whilst in Paris, on the brink of suicide, it was often his visits to the museums that gave him courage. He was introduced to the teachings of the Armenian mystic, G.I. Gurdjieff, who described a new spiritual route for ones life described as The Work: an exploration of human existence for the evolution of man to deeper states of attention, alertness and vision. This was the framework Elsner had been looking for to make sense of his inner voice. Having married, Elsner moved to Queens Park in London in 1958 and soon after began to receive reparations from the German government for loss in the war. Now financially independent, Elsner dedicated his life to the artistic spiritual journeying of The Work. Inspired by the diverse spiritualities of South East Asia, Elsner forged a new practice of watercolour and ink brush painting in a scroll format modelled on Japanese and Chinese art. He believed that every brushstroke was immediately a reflection of its makers state of mind and a pure reflection of the spiritual path. A Private View to celebrate the exhibition will be held on Weds 11th May, 6-8pm. This Private View will be open to all to attend. The gallery however kindly asks that you RSVP to info@thenoblesage.com with your name and number of guests for Covid safety. Alternatively, there will be daily tours with The Noble Sage's Director, Jana Manuelpillai, and other related events. For information or to book your place on these events, click here: https://linktr.ee/thenoblesage Please note that this exhibition is now exclusively online until the end of May 2022: https://www.artsy.net/show/the-noble-sage-collection-dante-elsner-1920-1997-the-work-extended-artsy-exhibition?sort=partner_show_position

IN THE MIX 2022

Twenty-two artworks by fifteen diverse artists from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the UK will be on display at Camden Image Gallery in February. For sixteen years The Noble Sage Art Collection has worked in north London to provide a stage for the very best in South Asian modern and contemporary art. This iteration of IN THE MIX, a popular annual show in London, will be special as it will include a few UK artists that the gallery has taken under its wing. Talented artists such as classical master painter, Anthony Christian, who spent many years in India himself, the late Dante Elsner, a Polish Holocaust survivor artist that turned to Eastern mysticism, and Murugiah, a Sri Lankan - British artist living in London and creating outstanding art that is surreal, joyful and loud. All welcome, no appointment necessary. All original works, all for sale. To attend the opening event on the 22nd February, or indeed one of the daily directorial tours, click the link: https://linktr.ee/thenoblesage To organise an in-person viewing of any of the works, contact the gallery on 07901944997 or by email on reception@thenoblesage.com

TAMIL ARTISTS OF THE NOBLE SAGE

This exclusive online Artsy exhibition spotlights ten Tamil artists in The Noble Sage Art Collection. This is in celebration of London Assembly's announcement of January 2022 as Tamil Heritage Month in the UK. The show can be found at the following link for all to enjoy: https://www.artsy.net/show/the-noble-sage-collection-tamil-artists-of-the-noble-sage-art-collection?sort=partner_show_position

IN THE MIX 2021 - Ten South Asian Artists from The Noble Sage Art Collection

Private View: Tuesday 20th July, 6 - 8pm For your safety, the Private View has been divided into four 30 minute timed slots: 6-6.30pm, 6.30-7pm, 7-7.30pm and 7.30-8pm. Also please note that there will be no Directorial Tour for the Private View event and instead regular Directorial Tours daily during the duration of the exhibition. This is to space out attendance of the exhibition, again, for your safety. Please use this link https://linktr.ee/thenoblesage to let us know your chosen Private View timed slot or chosen Directorial Tour.

Death and Destruction

FRANCES FERDINANDS - Enduring Patterns

This exhibition of recent works by Sri Lankan-Canadian artist Frances Ferdinands marks a somewhat new departure in a forty-year artistic career and the artists first solo exhibition in Europe. Inspired by the Pattern & Decoration Movement of the 1970s and 80s, Ferdinands uses the decorative visual space of the canvas to create paintings that make wide-reaching tangential connections across cultures. Ferdinands draws on her own migrant background to 'amalgamate Western and South Asian concepts, belief systems and visual languages'. Through this synthesis she 'speaks to the 'in-between space' of varied social and cultural realities' that she inhabits.

Our Existence Abstracted - The Art of Anoma, T. Athiveerapandian & Priya Barot

THE SPIRITUAL

Remembering Tasaduq Sohail

Following more than ten years of promotion, sales and exhibitions spotlighting the art of senior Pakistani artist, the Late master Tasaduq Sohail, The Noble Sage Art Collection is proud to announce the acquisition of seven works on paper by Sohail by the Tate Collection in London. This exhibition will display the rest of the works from this Tate set plus several other choice works from the collection.

Abstraction from South India

In this stunning new exhibition, 508 Gallery and The Noble Sage take you into South India, particularly Madras, to introduce you to three abstract artists, generations apart, with three very different painterly styles and artistic outcomes. Join The Noble Sage Art Collections Director as he teams up with 508 Kings Road Gallery to give you an insightful tour of this still rare niche in South India.

Tradition & Divergence in India

Artists featured: Premalatha Seshadri Himanish Das Eccentric-O M. Siva M. Natesh A. Selvaraj Rajkumar Stabathy Pradeep Puthoor

SURFACE AND SOUTH INDIA

New Works on Paper and Canvas by Premalatha Sheshadri & P. Jayakani

Women Artists of The Noble Sage

Strange World

Works on Paper by Tasaduq Sohail

Recent Work from Anoma - New Passages

The Noble Sage is proud to announce its new exhibition 'New Passages' featuring all-new work by the popular Sri Lankan artist, Anoma. This exhibition opening on the 7th October features recent work by Anoma. All exhibit new exhuberance and energy as Anoma again uses the poetry of renowned poet and friend, Ramya Jirisinghe as her starting point for exploration of the threme of deliverance. This subject has excited the artist for a few years now, giving her a poetic springboard to surf our understanding of memory and remembrance, the rites of passage that we all knowingly or unknowingly experience in our lives as well as our constant oscillation between the earthly world and the dreamscape. A word that reoccurs in her titles is 'heart'. Anoma draws on many meanings in her usage: the physicality of the beating heart that is within us all and that therefore connects us with each other; the courage and conviction we need as humans to make it through our lives; and lastly, the symbol of the honest love we must feel to see the world with gentler, more sympathetic eyes. Resonant titles combine with vibrant colour issuing a new sense of hope and inspiration for the viewer.

NEW WORK FROM THE COLLECTION: S. RAVI SHANKAR

WORSHIP

The Noble Sage is proud to announce the opening of South Indian artist, G. Ramans first London solo exhibition. Titled WORSHIP, this long-awaited show will present more than 20 works by the senior artist, throwing light on his keen draughtsmanship and natural sense of colour. The exhibition will show simple pen and ink drawings, ink and acrylic paintings and two stunning paintings on canvas. In this sense it will give an overview of the artists work and provide a springboard for investigation of his particular style and content.

New Works by Pradeep Puthoor

Trivandrum artist, Pradeep Puthoor's art is dedicated to a fantastical world that is entirely his own. Strange creatures and imaginatively designed buildings and structures, colourful and playful, clutter his canvas. It was the high acclaim received for his art that convinced the artist that his work had a value for others as well as himself. Few know that Puthoor used to be an illustrator and graphic designer in Bombay who painted at night as his own private passion. Illustration is certainly no surprise when one looks at his art today. Many works demonstrate the distinctive look of this skilled artform: precise linear draughtsmanship and flat, bright, highly choreographed colour.

In the Fore 2009

The Heating Heart of Kerala

Tasaduq Sohail

In June 2007, The Noble Sage opened the largest Tasaduq Sohail exhibition ever held in the UK. The work exuded an irresistible power and charm. It was less than a year later that a Sohail canvas entered a Bonhams auction in Dubai. The estimate was higher than expected: $10,000 to $15,000. The work eventually sold for a staggering $31,200. The figure was an indicator of the high investment worth of this senior artist from Pakistan. It is with great excitement that The Noble Sage will be opening its second solo exhibition for Tasaduq Sohail, this time highlighting a series of small oils and early watercolours.

Never Alone but Together

The Noble Sage is proud to open NEVER ALONE BUT TOGETHER, the long-awaited exhibition of the sculptures and drawings of Gujarati artist, Ashok Patel.

Sri Lankan Contemporaries

Drawn from India

The Noble Sage, the first gallery in the UK to specialise in Indian contemporary art, will open its new show dedicated to the strikingly original work of two rising artists from South India. A line on paper resonates with all of us as we have all put pen to paper in our lives though not all of us have put brush to canvas. We can relate on that basic fundamental. It is for this reason that the work of artists, M. Natesh and S.R. Shankar, inspires great awe and admiration. We are in the presence of works of art where we understand the medium (pen and paper), where we use the medium, where it is all within our reach. Yet here it is pushed to a level of imaginative creativity and artistic skill we could never have imagined.

Tasaduq Sohail - A Painting Retrospective

In the Fore 2007

Chennai Excite