Abstract Signs and Temple Frieze

From 1947 to 1952, Samant studied at the Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai, where he was exposed to a colonial curriculum, copying plaster casts of classical sculpture and studying Indian miniature painting. The latter, particularly Basohli painting, aided the development of his own aesthetic sensibilities. During this time, Samant visited numerous historic sites in India, familiarizing himself with the classical arts of the country, which provided images and motifs that he would reference throughout his career. In 1957, he was awarded a cultural exchange scholarship to Rome, sponsored by the Italian government. He also befriended an Egyptian painter with whom he travelled to Egypt, where he was influenced by hieroglyphics on temple walls and objects. A Rockefeller scholarship brought Samant to New York from 1959 to 1964, and in 1968, he moved permanently to New York.

Abstract Signs and Temple Frieze is a consummate example of Samant’s synthesis of a multitude of references into a diverse range of imagery. The grey frieze of suggestively erotic figures recalls a common feature on early Hindu temples, especially those of Khajuraho. In the lower quadrant of the painting, the simulated figural frieze of signs and symbols arranged in columns was a favored device of Samant and was also popular with European and American artists of the time like Jasper Johns. These symbols could also be possible manifestations of his interest in pre-Columbian glyphs from Mexico. By using plaster and sand to build this painting’s highly textural surface, Samant may have been further alluding to architectural friezes in ancient temples.