Proveniens: Privatsamling, Europa. Proveniens: Post-War & Contemporary Afternoon Session, Christie's, New York, 16. maj 2013, kat. nr. 623. Proveniens: Privatsamling, Danmark.

Med det imponerende værk “Bhasat Wilap at Assi Ghat” indtager den engelske samtidskunstner Marc Quinn et af auktionens hovednumre. Bharat Milap er en af de mest populære festivaler i Hinduismens helligste by Varanasi, hvor man fejrer sandhedens sejr over ondskaben. Varanasi ligger ned til Ganges og langs flodbredden finder man stentrapper - eller Ghater - der leder ned til vandet, som er mål for pilgrimsfærd. Tusindvis af mennesker deltager i optogene, hvor hvidklædte skikkelser iført røde og orange turbaner minder om et bølgende blomsterhav.

Om tankerne bag Quinns blomstermalerier forklares det på kunstnerens hjemmeside: “This series of flower paintings subverts one of the oldest forms of picture making: the still-life. To create these hyper-realist oil paintings, Quinn creates a still-life arrangement in his studio using flowers and fruit bought in London on a particular day. Since most of the flowers and fruit in these compositions would never bloom at the same time, or even be found together in the natural world, they show us the way in which human desire has created new seasons - bringing together in one geographical location things that nature would not assemble. Quinn photographs the arrangements, which are sometimes set amid a snowy ground or volcanic sand, and then makes oil paintings based on the photographs. The paintings depict a frozen moment of ”unnatural“ time. Often large in scale and dramatically coloured, their beauty belies a sinister subtext: the relentless human desire to control nature. Titled after freaks of ecology the works offer up a corrupt beauty that suggests our possible future.”