Skip to main content

This auction has ended. View lot details

You may also be interested in

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

Abdur Rehman Chughtai (1897-1975) Behind the Curtain image 1
Abdur Rehman Chughtai (1897-1975) Behind the Curtain image 2
Abdur Rehman Chughtai (1897-1975) Behind the Curtain image 3
Behind the Curtain
Lot 6*

Abdur Rehman Chughtai
(1897-1975)
Behind the Curtain

1 – 10 September 2025, 12:00 BST
Online, London, New Bond Street

Sold for £5,120 inc. premium

Own a similar item?

Submit your item online for a free auction estimate.

How to sell

Looking for a similar item?

Our Modern & Contemporary South Asian Art specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.

Find your local specialist

Ask about this lot

Abdur Rehman Chughtai (1897-1975)

Behind the Curtain
signed 'Rahman Chughtai' lower left and titled 'Behind the Curtain' lower right
etching, framed
35.3 x 38.4cm (13 7/8 x 15 1/8in).

Footnotes

Provenance
Property from an Estate, USA.

In Behind the Curtain, Chughtai masterfully balances delicacy with drama, drawing upon his signature blend of Indo-Persian aesthetics and modern sensibility. The composition is dominated by the figure of a seated woman in profile, her breast partially exposed, the sumptuous folds of her lehenga filling the foreground with rhythmic grace. Behind her, partly veiled by the curtain, another female figure appears to be dancing; her placement in the background lending the work an intriguing interplay of concealment and revelation. Through its layering of space and suggestion of intimacy, this rare etching exemplifies Chughtai's gift for transforming the miniature tradition into a deeply personal and poetic modern idiom.

For another etching sold at Christie's see South Asian Modern & Contemporary Art, 26th May 2016, lot 15.

Additional information

Bid now on these items

Francis Newton Souza(India, 1924-2002)Untitled (Head)