Page 16 - Jehangir Sabavala - TheArtsTrust

inspired initially by his own Coming into his Own
monumental travels through Although a prominent criticism of Sabavala’s
Europe, being a young man sailing work was that he was not in touch with his Indian
aboard many a ship and being in roots, or that he abandoned them for a more
constant transit. Birds also appeared European aesthetic and way of expression,
Right: Shirin and Jehangir
at a sculptor’s studio in often, signifying both the freedom his fascination with landscapes, floral and
Montmartre, Paris, in 1948 and passage that ships mirrored. faunal forms arose from the vistas he saw in
Below: The couple at an During this time, inspired by his India. This included the many beautiful scenic
early exhibition
travels to Italy, he created several locations he experienced while on vacation
landscapes such as ‘Portofino’, a 1953 with his family in the various Readymoney
watercolour on paper. The following mansions spread across the country. Be it the
year, he painted ‘Positano’, serving as Tapti river or the trees of Mahabaleshwar,
proof that Italy had created a place in the palette of the Deccan, the Sahyadri
his artistic inspirations. He also began range or the gardens of Poona, he was
exploring the theme of crucifixion after observant of everything, imagining the
his visit to the country in 1957. This many colours, the role of light and shadow,
was enhanced by witnessing the Giottos and his own intuitive response to what
in Santa Croce and Perugino’s fresco he was seeing, and then translating it
of the Crucifixion in Florence. Another onto canvas. His relationship with India
journey he undertook was through the artistically was a more personal one—
Netherlands in 1957, resulting in a series he found that even as people mourned
of works depicting waterfowl he saw in the loss of India’s rich history and art,
the canals of Amsterdam. He showcased it was art that surrounded them and
the fish, mandarin ducks and ripples in the was ignored as people chose the comfort
canals through his own artistic vision. of reminiscing.
Sabavala’s rediscovery of India and In the early 1960s, Sabavala
his dedication to not conforming to the began to distance himself from the
indigenous-inspired art—which was both rigours of Cubism, and began an
lauded and criticised for being performative attempt to not only depict the spirit
by influential foreign art critics—resulted in of a place in a way that would
him exploring the underlying India, finding aesthetically satisfy him, but also
the true spirit of the country instead of to communicate his own identity
overtly expressing it on canvas. The Sabavalas through these depictions in
returned to India in 1958, this time to settle colourful, refreshingly innovative
and welcome their only child, Aafreed. This environs. He enjoyed the challenge
period, well into the 1960s, would be one of of choosing a subject, breaking it
the most transformative for the artist. down into planes and geometric

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