Page 8 - Jehangir Sabavala - TheArtsTrust
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Jehangir Ardeshir Sabavala was  born  on       that he would spend hours in
                                23 August, 1922, to an affluent family, including   his  childhood  roaming  through
                                his father Ardeshir Pestonjee Sabavala, mother   the  halls  and  gardens,  absorbing
                                Meherbai—lovingly called Bapsy—and brother     the art of the time that the family
                                Sharokh. His mother’s ancestors, most notable   collected, while also bearing witness
                                of whom was Sir Cowasjee Jehangir, had not    to  the  contemporary  traditions  the
                                only been successful traders, but also essential   family observed. The view of the
                                in  their  patronage  of  buildings  that  have   sea from the house, the multi-hued
                                become  quintessential  in  today’s  Bombay-  garden and the blue skies of Mumbai
                                scape, as well as patronage to charities and   would inspire the waves, mountains,
                                educational institutions. Their contributions   skies and landscapes we have come to
                                to iconic buildings include Elphinstone     associate with Sabavala’s work today.
                                College, Victoria Museum and Jehangir Art        Jehangir moved several houses
                                Gallery, among others.                     during this period, from Readymoney
                                     Sabavala’s mother, Bapsy, was         House to Europe to The Retreat in
                                known to be a grandiose woman who          New  Cuffe  Parade  to  Aewan-E-Rafiyat
                                built a Home For The Blind in Bombay      in Malabar Hill. Each of these homes
                                (now  Mumbai)  and  established  the      showcased the grandiose artistic taste
                                Swabal chain of co-operative stores. His   of his mother. During the 1930s, she
                                father, on the other hand,  sought out   took them all over the country—Madras
                                education and civic responsibility. A    (now Chennai), Amritsar, Udaipur, Delhi,
                                successful lawyer, he went on to work in   Bengal, Banaras and Bodh Gaya—and
                                politics, climbing ranks from Chairman   then on an extensive journey through
                                of the Bombay Electric and Suburban     Europe and Australia in 1936, and China,
                                Tramways  Corporation  from  1938  to   Japan and North America in 1939. It was
                                1939 to Mayor of Bombay in 1947.       in Europe that Jehangir was introduced
                                Ardeshir, and later Sharokh, joined    to  museums,  galleries  and  theatres,  which
                                Tata Industries in the early 1940s.    played a large role in influencing him to take
                                     Many  of  Sabavala’s  works       up art. Here, he was in the august company
                                showcase  the  loneliness  of  his    of works by Bellini, Veronese, Tintoretto,
                                                                                                                                                        Clockwise from top left:
                                childhood, shadowed by his parents’   Zurbaran,  Greco,  Rubens,   Rembrandt,                                           In the Readymoney House garden with brother Sharokh;
                                marriage and eventual separation in   Delacroix, Gericault and the Impressionists.                                      Sabavala as a young man ready to explore the world;
                                                                                                                                                        Jehangir with mother Bapsy and his brother
                                the mid-1940s. His family made the        Montreux, a small town in Switzerland,
                                move from Churchgate to Malabar      became home to the Sabavala family for four
                                Hill in the 1860s, and he grew up    years, with Jehangir and Sharokh enrolling at
                                in Readymoney House, a mansion      the Fisher’s Institute at Territet. Jehangir was
                                on Nepean Sea Road. It was here     not fond of formal education or sports, and




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