Lot 72: Words and Symbols

K.C.S. Paniker (1911-1977)
Words and Symbols
signed 'Paniker' (bottom center)
oil on canvas
26 x 23 7/8in. (66 x 68cm.)
Painted in 1970

Purchased by the present owner in October, 1976.

PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTION, GERMANY


Paniker was inspired by mathematical tables and Indian horoscopes. Though his work is technically abstract there are elements which encourage the viewer to think differently. Often there are minute scripts in the work, symbols and diagrams.
"...My work of the Words and Symbols series, started in 1963, using mathematical symbols, Arabic figures and the Roman script, helping me create an atmosphere of new picture making which I seemed very much to need...in the course of time when my symbols changed I found the Malayalam script more congenial...The scripts are not intended to be read. To make them illegible I introduce strange shapes and characters in between the groups of letters. The symbols and diagrams, the tabular columns etc. have no meaning whatsoever other than their visual aspect and images born out of association of ideas."
(K.C.S. Paniker, Contemporary Painters and Metaphysical Elements in the Art of the Past , L K C, April - September 1971.)