
Priya Singh
Head of Department
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Sold for £2,048 inc. premium
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Head of Department

Cataloguer
Provenance
Property from a private collection, UK.
The contents of the letter:
'Dr, Mrs, Monterberg, my first stop over in Europe will be Rome then on my way to Milan I will try and come to see you both. Will that be OK. You can expect me some time on or around 3 May 1982. I am on my way to UK. Representing India in British International Print Biennale at Bradford Museum and will also be participating in India Festival-Contemporary Art Show at Royal Academy of Art, where 35 artists will show. I am one amongst them. Yes it sounds very exciting and inspiring to me. Once again I will have the opportunity of seeing you both more in person.'
This rare and intimate work from 1982 seamlessly merges image and text, functioning both as a letter and a painted artwork. At its centre stands the figure of a woman, drawn in ink and pen, her presence quiet yet commanding. Surrounding her, in flowing handwritten script, is the body of the letter—personal, expressive, and artfully composed to frame the figure at its heart.
Goud's use of wash in subtle shades of blue, green, and yellow adds a lyrical softness to the composition. These colours, gently diffused around the central figure, evoke a dreamlike atmosphere, enhancing the emotional resonance of the piece. The woman herself, rendered in the artist's unmistakable linear style, is sensuous and grounded, an embodiment of the rural femininity that permeates much of Goud's oeuvre.
What makes this work particularly compelling is its hybridity, it is both a communication and a composition, both deeply personal and visually refined. Goud's fusion of drawing and letter-writing is a testament to his ability to blur the lines between artistic practice and daily life, elevating the ordinary act of correspondence into a poetic gesture.