Catalogue relating to an exhibition, 1960
Published by: Molton Gallery
Year published: 1960
Number of pages: 16
Unpaginated.

Molton Gallery was located at 44 South Molton Street, London, W1, in the heart of Mayfair. It was a gallery with which Avinash Chandra had a particular association, having solo exhibitions there in 1960 and 1962, Molton Gallery was also a collaborative partner for Chandra’s exhibition at Galerie de l’Universite, Paris, in 1961. The first of Chandra’s exhibition at Molton Gallery took place September 7 - October 1 1960. The exhibition consisted of 30 oil on canvas paintings, plus six gouaches.

The 1960 exhibition came with this small catalogue, containing a substantial essay by G.M. Butcher, which concluded, “It is also important to note that of all the great traditions of world art which have made their contribution to Western painting in the past century, only the art of India remains “undiscovered”. Or rather, it is only among several dozen young Indian painters that an attempt is being made to bring into relationship the attitudes of modern painting and the traditions of ancient India. Chandra is among those few.”

Earlier in the text, Butcher asserted that Chandra’s “paintings are neither naturalistic or non-objective, nor are they in any sense an uneasy compromise between the two. Superficially, they are decoratively appealing, just as abstraction and expressionism can be, but they are also much more than this. Part of their particular strength  lies in their not being “international”. This is to say that they have a clear national identity to the degree that Chandra succeeds in transforming a diversity of origins and influences. In an obvious way, this is something that “international” abstraction simply cannot do. Its internationalism is precisely the end result of a constant attrition of diverse influences and origins.”

Contents as follows:

uncredited portrait of Chandra at work in his studio

“Avinash Chandra” text by G.M. Butcher

list of paintings in the exhibition (the price of £225 has been written in pen next to City of Churches, oil on board, 48 x 72 ins 1960)

six monochrome reproductions of Chandra’s paintings, including City of Churches

Biography

The final page of the catalogue has minimal details about Molton Gallery, it location, and forthcoming exhibitions. The page has been used for hand written notes, presumably relating to paintings the writer of the notes was particularly interested in.