Terrace party
(1974)
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
113.4 × 108.3 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1979
© Bhupen Khakhar Estate
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
Bhupen Khakhar was a self-trained artist who came to prominence in India’s art world during the 1960s and globally in the 1970s. His narrative paintings, populated solely by male subjects, depict social relations between men from different strata of contemporary Indian society. In Terrace party, a congressman, a businessman and a middleman are seen making a deal in a private club. This subject could be described as homosocial, pertaining to same-sex relations of a non-sexual nature, rather than homoerotic. After travelling to London in the late 1970s, where he befriended gay British artists David Hockney and Howard Hodgkin, the erotic content of Khakhar’s art became increasingly overt, and he became India’s first openly gay male artist.
Artwork Details
Inscription
inscribed in brown paint on reverse u.c.: Terrace Party / Bhupen Khakhar / Shivmahal Palace CompounD / BARODA 7 / Rs 5500/-
Accession Number
EA7-1979
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Human Figures Relationships and Interactions
Subjects (specific)
balconies drinking men (male humans) parties (events) suits (main garments)