Mohandas K. Gandhi Signed Engraving Portrait.

GANDHI, Mohandas K. [Mahatma].

$50,000.00

Item Number: 103540

Wood engraving of a bust-length portrait of one of the most famous graphic images of Gandhi by illustrator Fritz Eichenberg; signed by Gandhi, “God is Truth MK Gandhi.” Below Gandhi’s inscription in a pencil inscription by Fritz Eichenberg, “To Eva Aug. 16th, 1948 with love from Fritz” and additionally signed “Fritz Eichenberg.” The engraving is a proof impression on Japanese paper.

The portrait by Eichenberg was originally created for The Catholic Worker, a newspaper in the cause of social justice, and was subsequently used in multiple other publications. “The word satya (Truth) is derived from Sat which means ‘being’. Nothing is or exists in reality except Truth. That is why Sat or Truth is perhaps the most important name of God […] In such selfless search for Truth nobody can lose his bearings for long. Directly he takes to the wrong path he stumbles, and is thus redirected to the right path. Therefore the pursuit of Truth is true bhakti (devotion). It is the path that leads to God” (Gandhi, January 1st, 1927). The engraving measures 12 inches by 9 inches. Double matted and framed. The entire piece measures 22 inches by 20 inches. Signed examples are exceptionally rare and desirable with the core tenet of Gandhi’s religious philosophy.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi led the 32-year struggle for Indian Independence against British rule employing the use nonviolent civil disobedience, inspiring movements of civil rights and freedom throughout the world. Gandhi lived a modest lifestyle and was held as a political prisoner for many years throughout the course of the movement. In 1948, only two years after the British reluctantly granted independence to the people of the Indian subcontinent, Gandhi was assassinated on his way to a prayer meeting in the Birla House garden. His death was mourned nationwide; over two million people joined the five-mile long funeral procession in his honor.