Page 14 - Jehangir Sabavala - TheArtsTrust

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

12