Page 29 - Jehangir Sabavala - TheArtsTrust

born out of his imagination, on the receiving the Kala Ratan by AIFACS. Many of his
other hand, were more electrifying works of the time seem to be purely to express
and took notes from Kabuki the validity of the path he had chosen and the
actors, Botticelli protagonists and way it had evolved. This experimental phase of
Bodhisattva imagery. his art was pronounced, although he retained
some of his classicism and the techniques he
Reimagining his Oeuvre had learnt. He reinvented himself, giving
One of the themes central to in to impulse. Reverting to his older works
Sabavala’s work was that of flight. Not over the decades, referenced in theme and
only his landscapes but the humans in style, Sabavala began to use brighter, more
his worlds seemed to look upward for fluorescent colours.
inspiration. The wizards and augurs His landscapes, often barren except for
that inhabit these vast lands seem to be natural formations, began to be dotted by
arriving from the sky or the sea and are buildings, evidently man-made. Butterflies
enveloped in dramatic mystery as well also returned, in their vivacious glory.
as austerity, evidenced in ‘The Strangers’ His previous puzzle-like works that were
series of the 1990s. These androgynous crowded with details returned as well,
figures seem like apparitions from while his engagement with the panorama
different worlds and convey a sense of evolved simultaneously. Nature continued
the surreal. to be his primary source of inspiration,
In the outer world, however, with rivers signifying the passage of time
commercial success affected Sabavala. Not and pine trees, the lofty ideal of space.
only was he not able to explore his inner Man’s intervention in the natural
self and the worlds that arose from it, but lay of the land through concrete
was also tasked with finding a balance structures inhabiting settlers was a
between the old and the new. The demands preoccupation of the 21st century.
of acclaim, the ups and downs of the art Such buildings were only witnessed
market as well as the various movements once before in Sabavala’s oeuvre in
that came with contemporary art unnerved the early 1950s when he painted
Sabavala. Yet, his work remained obstinately roofs. It is evident that these
intrinsic, searching inward for deeper works gleaned inspiration from
meaning rather than succumbing to the trends the metropolis of Bombay, a city
Clockwise from top left: of the time. where Sabavala spent much of
An oil on canvas work titled ‘Self-Portrait’ executed The 2000s saw the artist revisiting his his childhood and artistic career.
in 1953 (22.8 x 18 in); an interview in a leading daily;
an oil on canvas work titled ‘Self-Portrait’ executed own evolutionary path, referring to his own In ‘The City IV’, one can witness
in 1948; one of the numerous news clippings about themes and building off of them. In 2001, his a plethora of his preoccupations
his art and exhibitions
immense contribution to art resulted in him alongside the introduction of

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