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Lot 33

Anjolie Ela Menon
(B.1940)
Untitled (Sadhu) tile 10 x 10 cm; box 15.2 x 15.2 cm

4 June 2025, 15:00 BST
London, New Bond Street

£2,000 - £3,000

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Anjolie Ela Menon (B.1940)

Untitled (Sadhu)
engraved 'Anjolie Ela Menon upper left'
tile and wooden box with brass
15.2 x 15.2cm (6 x 6in).tile 10 x 10 cm; box 15.2 x 15.2 cm

Footnotes

Provenance
Property from a private collection, UK.

Menon's portrayal of a sadhu with closed eyes, delicately rendered on a wooden box, is a quiet yet powerful expression of her quintessential style; meditative, timeless, and deeply textured. The image captures the ascetic figure in a moment of inner stillness, his eyes closed in contemplation or retreat, exuding a sense of spiritual detachment. Painted in Menon's signature muted palette of ochres, siennas, and greys, the work is enriched by her use of thin translucent glazes that give the surface an ethereal, timeworn quality. The choice of a wooden box as the canvas adds a layer of intimacy and sacredness to the piece, transforming it into an object of reverence, much like a reliquary. Her characteristic flattened forms, elongated features, and Byzantine-inspired compositions are all present here, as is her uncanny ability to evoke emotion through restraint. The sadhu becomes both a symbol and a presence—silent, watchful, and suspended in a world that feels both ancient and immediate.

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