Page 19 - Jehangir Sabavala - TheArtsTrust
P. 19

shapes and then reconstructing it to create an   bolder, preferring a central focus.
 image all his own. He sought to strike a balance   With this, he seemed to achieve
 between  sensory  perception  and  conception.   revelry reeled in by discipline.
 Sabavala was now looking to favour the   Although he required a skeletal
 symbolism behind the people, landscapes and   structure of patterns in his work,
 cityscapes  he  was  depicting  without  paying   he began to adorn them with the
 as much heed to what was academically   romantic that resided in him, bringing
 correct. He actively sought to push genre   together his own contradictions. One
 to the background and bring the theme he   such example, where one can witness
 was working with to the forefront.   the  Cubist  adherence  loosening, is
 While  his  earlier  paintings  ‘Cobra Lilies’, a still-life that presents
 showcased a sort of dedication to genre,   Sabavala’s romanticism.
 this  decade  would  signal  that  his  true   The year 1962 was important, for
 passion  lay  in  finding  an underlying   he discovered that he was plateauing in
 theme that pervaded his work. This   his art.  Although he had stripped back
 was also when he began to search for   much of his work using the techniques
 a unique visual syntax that he could   that Cubism provided, he still wanted to
 call his own. He began to cast aside   showcase motifs that were dear to him. His
 his need for perfection—owing to his   work then hung on the precipice of becoming
 academic training—to finally take   decorative and irrelevant to the real world. To   Sabavala and Shirin with
                                                                            daughter Aafreed
 more experimental risks, be more   the Indian sensibility, Cubism did not hold as
 flexible and, in Richard Lannoy’s   much meaning and soon became a stylistic ideal
 words, achieve a certain ‘plasticity’.   rather than a significant choice. Charles Fabri,
 His  images became  sharper and   Hungarian art historian and archaeologist and

               an influential figure in Sabavala’s   India encouraged him to take up landscapes.
               life,  questioned  him  on  his  sub-  While  his  previous  works  were  a  collage  of
               Cubist art and what lay beyond it,   geometric forms, the works of this time were
               thus prompting the artist to look at   distinctly subtle yet skilful, showcasing the
               whether he could push the Cubist      thick impasto fading into gradation of colour,
               motif to become more emotional.       and the outlines becoming faded, leaving
                    During  this  time,  he  was      space for light to make its way into his
               also inspired by Lyonel Feininger’s    work.    The   heavy-handedness    was
               explorations of cloud, boat and sea     abandoned and the focus shifted to
               through depictions of light, as well as   depicting the universal. His penchant for
               the works of J M W Turner. Focusing      displaying light at its dramatic finest can
               on the source of light and its effects, he   be seen throughout the 1960s, especially
               began  to  showcase  a  certain  restraint,   in his work ‘The Sky Like A Furnace
               while featuring a central image such as   Burning’, which sets the air ablaze and
               huddled figures, a geographical elevation   seems to have been lit from within.
               or a gathering of trees. His palette, too,   Feeling restrained by his education in
               became more subdued, which granted his      various art techniques, he felt liberated
               works a more contemplative touch and a soft   in his choice of landscapes. He was
               radiance. Evidence of this is ‘The Air Full Of   finally  able  to  make the  image  take
               Soft Imaginings’ from 1964, which serves as   on any form he chose.
               a precursor to works that were enveloped by
               an airiness, buffeted by his learned techniques.   The Mystique Evolves
 Sabavala in the    From 1962 to 1965, Sabavala’s canvases    Now,  both  the  construct  and  the
 mid-1960s     evolved alongside him, as his travels through   feeling of his  paintings were in




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