Priya Singh
Head of Department
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Lot 24
Nayanaa Kanodia(B.1950)Sunday Market
1 – 10 September 2025, 12:00 BST
Online, London, New Bond Street£2,000 - £3,000
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Louise Almeras
Cataloguer
Nayanaa Kanodia (B.1950)
Sunday Market
signed 'NainaK' lower right
oil on canvas framed
89 x 104.1cm (35 1/16 x 41in).
signed 'NainaK' lower right
oil on canvas framed
89 x 104.1cm (35 1/16 x 41in).
Footnotes
Provenance
Property from a private collection, UK;
Acquired from ARKS Gallery, Contemporary Art, UK.
Published
Exhibition catalogue, Recent Works by Naina Kanodia, ARKS Gallery, London, 1997, unpaginated (illustrated).
Note: There is a label on the reverse with the artists name, title of the work, year, size and medium.
Note: The artist was originally called 'Naina Kanodia' but has since changed the spelling of her name to Nayanna, as reflected in the artist name.
Kanodia is celebrated for her vibrant, narrative paintings that capture the rhythms of everyday life with wit, colour, and an eye for detail. In Sunday Market, she transforms an ordinary scene into a lively tableau that brims with both humour and warmth.
At the centre of the composition, a father pedals a bicycle, his arms balancing a precarious box of chickens, while his young son sits behind him cradling a goat. The straightforwardness of their task is offset by the almost theatrical staging: the figures are carefully stylised, their gestures deliberate, and their cargo animated with personality. Above them, in the top right corner, a cluster of balloons drifts into the distance, introducing a whimsical counterpoint to the earthy reality of livestock and market goods.
Kanodia's painting exemplifies her signature style, often linked to the naïve art tradition, where flat planes of colour, crisp outlines, and playful compositions lend a sense of immediacy and charm. Yet beneath this lightness lies a subtle social commentary: the work reflects the coexistence of toil and joy, tradition and aspiration, in contemporary Indian life. Through Sunday Market, Kanodia invites the viewer into a world where the ordinary becomes extraordinary, and everyday experiences acquire a lyrical, almost timeless resonance.