An unknown pencil portrait of Gandhi, drawn from life and inscribed by the sitter, is set to be offered at Sotheby’s London on 11 th July with an estimate of £8,000-12,000. Gandhi usually refused to sit for formal photographs, let alone a portraitist, making this an extremely rare portrayal of the political leader at work. The sketch shows Gandhi writing with a look of intense concentration whilst seated on the floor, and is inscribed by him with the words “Truth is God / MK Gandhi / 4.12.’31.”
This is one of a number of portraits drawn by artist John Henry Amshewitz (1882-1942) when Gandhi was visiting London for the Round Table Conference in 1931, a series of conferences organised by the British Government to discuss constitutional reforms in India. Gandhi was staying at Kingsley Hall at the time, a community centre in London’s East End, at the invitation of one of its founders, Muriel Lester, who had previously stayed in Gandhi’s ashram. This pencil portrait, which was inscribed by Gandhi the day before he left Kingsley Hall, was given to a
local resident who was closely associated with Kingsley Hall throughout her life. It has remained in her family ever since.
Unpublished Gandhi Letters
Sotheby’s sale will also include a collection of handwritten letters by Gandhi addressed to the Bose family, a prominent Indian political dynasty at the time.The most important of the letters are addressed to Sarat Chandra Bose himself, and include key comments on the pivotal partition of Bengal in the months before his assassination, providing a vivid impression of the intense political pressures that Gandhi faced in his final months.
Dating from the mid-1940s, the other letters in the collection affirm Gandi’s continued love of the Bose family, recall visits to their home in Calcutta and discuss the future develop of India with Amiya Nath Bose, the son of Sarat Chandra Bose.
Together, these letters have a combined estimate of £23,000-33,000.
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