The Noble Sage, the first gallery in the UK to specialise in Indian contemporary art, will be exhibiting the most expensive art exhibition ever to arrive in North London: S. Dhanapal: The Draughtsman in the Sculptor. The exhibition -cum-sale consists of 52 private drawings and paintings from the family collection of seminal Indian sculptor, Professor S. Dhanapal, pioneer artist of South Indian Modernism who passed away in 2000. The exhibition spotlights this prominent artist of the Dravidian modern art movement for the very first time in the West, giving particular attention to the sculptor's great talent for painting and drawing, a largely uncharted area of distinguishable skill and expertise.

The exhibition demonstrates the progression of an artist over six crucial decades in Indian history: spanning from the early days of Indian Independence from British rule (and its consequent effect on Indian artistic identity) through to a strengthening India by the late 1990s and, as such, a rising sense of South Indian artistic individualism and power. One perceives in the exhibition a clear progression from British academic naturalistic painting and drawing to an invigorated feeling for abstraction and line by the end of Dhanapal's life. In this way the works are illustrations of a time of great artistic and social shift.

The Noble Sage Director, Jana Manuelpillai, says: "I am so proud to be the first to bring the work of Professor S. Dhanapal to the shores of the UK. Dhanapal was a crucial artist at the turning point in South Indian modernism. He was a principal of Madras College of Arts and Crafts and was the teacher and guru for such eminent artists as K.M. Adimoolam, Anthony Doss, A.P. Santhanaraj and R.B. Bhaskaran. Not only a remarkable personality with a gift for everything from bonsai trees to Indian classical dance, Dhanapal also had an extraordinary gift for drawing and painting that equalled his renowned sculptural talent. It seems fitting that Dhanapal should be celebrated with a large-scale show of his most private of drawings and paintings. I am so thankful to his family for entrusting us with these treasures and allowing us to bring them to the UK."

ABOUT JANA MANUELPILLAI

Jana Manuelpillai is the man behind The Noble Sage Art Gallery. A British-born Sri Lankan with Indian lineage, he leads a new breed of home-grown talent forging fresh and exciting links with the subcontinent. Jana (28yrs) has a wealth of experience behind him.

His interest in art at a young age led him to a degree in Art History and English Literature from Birmingham University. This was followed by a First Class Masters degree in Museum Studies at Leicester University, thus cementing his career in art museums and galleries. His career has spanned from Dulwich Picture Gallery and South London Gallery, to The Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art in the USA. Most recently, Jana worked as Head of Education at the Mall Galleries off Trafalgar Square.

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