Artworks by Clara Quien
Rhea Quien, daughter of the sculptor Clara Quien, has offered to donate to the Centre two sculptures made by her mother. As they are both life-size pieces, which the Centre is not able to exhibit or store properly, a home has been secured for the sculptures at Wolfson College. Before they can be installed in the beautiful gardens there, however, funds need to be raised to repair and recast the works. The Centre is pleased to be able to support this effort to save two very important works of art by a significant twentieth-century artist.
The sculptures
The sculptures are of Mahatma Gandhi and a depiction of the Buddha, called 'The Active Buddha', as it is not in the usual, seated pose. Clara Quien was the only artist given permission by Mahatma Gandhi to create a full-sized statue of him from life. The Active Buddha won first prize and Clara a silver medal at the 1952 All India Exhibition in Bombay. Both are important and beautiful works from the period of the Raj by a major artist, and will be a great addition to Cambridge's collections.
Sale of casts of Gandhi's head
The current owner has authorised a limited-edition cast of the head of the Gandhi statue to be sold in order to raise funds for the necessary restoration work and for the casting - only 35 copies of the statue will be made. Details of this sale can be obtained by contacting the Centre or by following the links on the right of this page, where you will also find images of the head and the sculptures and information about the artist. Enquiries about this offer or about making a donation to the fund established to preserve the sculptures should be directed to Dr Kevin Greenbank at the Centre of South Asian Studies.