Page 20 - Jehangir Sabavala - TheArtsTrust

Sabavala with wife Shirin,
who had an indelible
impact on his art

harmony, with looser forms and more sombre became a mainstay: trees, hills and
palettes. Through pencil studies, he was able to ships. As time passed, the artist
explore the mountains and seas he witnessed on started to look from land to the
his journeys and was then able to add figures, skies, depicting aerial formations,
boats, trees, and colours from other sketches clouds and birds that had no place
to create a unique composition. Although he on the terrestrial.
was now finally breaking free of the shackles This evolution is also seen in
of genre, he did not fully abandon the the mysterious quality of his works,
classicist in him, painting layer upon layer with drifting figures working in
with expert brushwork. During this period, tandem with the environment and
he would find the home he searched for in seeking to establish a relationship
his canvases, and the light and colour would between the personal and the universal.
add an almost spiritual and metaphysical Both intimate and remote, his oeuvre
quality to it. dealt with the theme of ascension
The universes of Sabavala’s creation while remaining anchored. He achieved
that seemed haunting and removed a balance between representation and
from the human world were a fusion of abstraction, between the sumptuousness
concept, brushwork and palette. This of colour and the austerity of geometric
amalgamation resulted in a consistent lines. As Sabavala’s colours became half-
imagery that had endless variation, tones, his attention to the potential of
creating a sense of anticipation and broken hues over the starkness of primary
discovery. His art depicted a time that colours became clearer. His works began to
existed beyond human history. ‘In The display a luminosity that seemed to come
Ambush Of A Calm’ (1966) has the from within, suspending what we know as
sombre palette and hints of classicism time and space, and achieving both a peace
that works of this time displayed. and a melancholia.
Sabavala’s unleashing of A series of landscapes were born
emotion onto the canvas can be during his travels to Hampi in 1965, where
credited, in part, to three artists— he depicted the Tungabhadra river’s rocky
Egon Schiele, Emil Nolde and shores and surrounding hills, utilising the
Chaïm Soutine—whose passionate, colours that arose from the river itself. These
disruptive and riotously-coloured landscapes were complemented by works
works encouraged him to evolve depicting the arid environment of Rajasthan,
his style. This resulted in art that the seas of western India and the lush forests
aimed to be beyond aesthetically that India provided. The horizons of this time
pleasing, showcasing a more would act in creating mirror images, where the
profound beauty with motifs that sky and land both seemed to meld into one.

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