Page 15 - Jehangir Sabavala - TheArtsTrust
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intellectual environment of late 1940s Paris,   The Evolution of a Style
 he also paid heed to his artistic temperament.   The 1950s for Sabavala saw a
 He displayed his work at his first exhibition in   push  and  pull  between  his  love
 Monaco in 1949 and, then, in Paris in 1950.   for Impressionism and Cubism.
 Sabavala and Shirin made their way   Although  he  strove  to  stick  to  a
 back to newly post-colonial  India in  1951,   genre,  his  works  of  the  time  are
 and the gifted artist  found  inspiration  that   evidence of his experiments—
 would be incorporated  into his learnings   tugging at both the precision of
 from the guild masters of European painting.   the art styles he had studied and
 His oeuvre would continue to showcase his   yearning for freedom in concept.
 negotiation  between his  own  romanticism   He created many impressive  still-
 with his classicist academic  training,  and   life works, keeping in mind the strict
 his classic tendency with the constraints of   demands of colour, plane and form that
 Cubism. This move also signalled a drastic   Cubism asked of him. His adoption of
 change  in  the  Sabavalas’  lifestyle, with   Indian culture can also be witnessed in
 them eventually moving to an apartment   these still-lifes, as well as his adaptation
 in Cumballa Hill. Although slightly off-  to the sharp light and stimulus of colour
 kilter  and  without  station,  Sabavala   that India provided over Europe. Several
 dedicated himself to painting, displaying   of  these  motifs  foreshadow  what  was
 his work at his first show in India at the   to come in his art, such as the mystical
 Taj Mahal Hotel in April 1951. Despite   figures we associate with him today,
 their social standing,  the couple had   hints of his iconic landscapes, birds,
 limited resources and resorted to   crucifixion themes and so on. The forms
 displaying Jehangir’s work on hessian   of this time, self-admittedly indulgent,
 mounts  on  wooden frames  in  the   feature strong lines and ebullience,
 Princes’ Room.  merging Expressionism, Abstractionism
 Seeing a need for art criticism,   and Impressionism.
 knowledge and  art appreciation,   In  the  mid-1950s,  Sabavala  paused
 Sabavala—along with culture critics   his experimentation with various styles to   Clockwise from top left:
                                                               A collection of news clippings about
 S V Vasudev, D G Nadkarni and Nissim   execute works that displayed a Japanese
                                                               the artist; Sabavala in the 1940s,
 Ezekiel—went  on  to  host  talks  on   touch, with characters of kabuki dramas,   with charismatic Continental swag
 All India Radio and at educational   dragonflies and butterflies in his canvases.
 institutions. This, along with the   These figures, too, foretold of the wandering,
 burgeoning number of collectors   linear figures that would appear and stay in
 and  art  scholars,  would  create  a   Sabavala’s art 40 years later.
 thriving community in Bombay for   In the late 1950s, ships began to make
 contemporary artists of the time.  their  presence  known  in  his  works.  This  was




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