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Jehangir Sabavala
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"My art, a mixture of academic, impressionist and cubist texture, form and colour, acquired a distinct style in the mid ’60s. And with each step I have evolved a new experience. But if I look back, I find I have carried all the elements forward."
Born in 1922 in Mumbai, Jehangir Sabavala studied at the best-known art colleges of the world. After receiving his first fine arts diploma from the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, in...
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"My art, a mixture of academic, impressionist and cubist texture, form and colour, acquired a distinct style in the mid ’60s. And with each step I have evolved a new experience. But if I look back, I find I have carried all the elements forward."
Born in 1922 in Mumbai, Jehangir Sabavala studied at the best-known art colleges of the world. After receiving his first fine arts diploma from the Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai, in 1944, Sabavala went to Europe and studied at the Heatherley School of Art, London, from 1945 to 1947, and in Paris at the Academie Andre Lhote from 1948 to 1951, the Academie Julian from 1953 to 1954, and the Academic de la Grande Chaumiere in 1957.
Sabavala works most often in oils, creating landscapes, seascapes and figures deftly with his brush, and has recently begun to paint cityscapes as well. Describing his palette as quiet, this modern Indian artist says that veiled light and middle-tones appeal to him much more than pure colours and loud imagery. An artist practicing in the modernist style with a deeply ingrained classical influence, Jehangir Sabavala creates almost geometric wedges out of paint, which he puts together to form vast, tranquil scenes. These ‘receding planes’ give each canvas an illusory sense of depth, illustrating Sabavala’s mastery over light, colour, and texture.
In the artist's early works, the human form emerged as only a minuscule element on the canvas, shrouded in silence and encapsulating the notion of solitude perfectly. However, his figures, over the many years that Sabavala has painted, have begun to reveal more and more of themselves, even though they are still distanced from the viewer.
Sabavala’s career has spanned more than sixty years since his first solo exhibition held in a hired room of the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, put up with the help of fellow artist M.F. Husain and a couple of carpenters. To the artist’s credit are over thirty solo exhibitions held across India as well as abroad. His most recent solo exhibits include 'Ricorso' at Aicon Gallery, New York, in 2009 and Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, in 2008; and ‘Jehangir Sabavala: A Retrospective’ organized by Sakshi Gallery at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai and New Delhi, in 2005-06. Sabavala’s works have also been featured in numerous group exhibitions all over the world, including more recently, ‘Trends and Techniques - Water Color in India’ at Galerie 88, Kolkata in 2005; ‘The Search’, Mumbai, in 2004; and in a display of the Jehangir Nicholson Collection, Mumbai, also in 2004.
Three monographs have been published on this artist already, by eminent art publishers including the house of Tata- McGraw-Hill and the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. ‘Colours of Absence’, a film on his life, won the National Award in 1994. Sabavala was awarded the ‘Padma Shri’ by the Government of India in 1977, and the Lalit Kala Ratna by the President of India in 2007.
Jehangir Sabavala passed away in 2011.
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Born
1922
India
Died
September 2, 2011
Education
1953-54 The Academie Julian 1948-51 The Academie Julian & Academie Andre Lhote, Paris 1945-47 The Heatherly School of Art, London. 1957 The Academie de la Grande Chaumiere, Paris 1942-44 Sir J.J. School of Art, Mumbai 1939-41 Elphinstone College, University of Mumbai>
Exhibitions
Selected Posthumous Exhibitions
2020 'Jehangir Sabavala: Pilgrim...
Selected Posthumous Exhibitions
2020 'Jehangir Sabavala: Pilgrim Souls, Soaring Skies, Crystalline Seas', Akara Art, Mumbai
2014 'Immutable Gaze Part I: Masterpieces of Modern and Pre-Modern Indian Art', Aicon Gallery, New York
2012 'Diva', Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2012 'Iconic Processions', Aicon Gallery, New York 2012 'Contemporary: A Selection of Modern and Contemporary Art', prsented by Sakshi Gallery at The Park, Chennai
2012 'Through the Ages: South Asian Sculpture and Painting from Antiquity to Modernism', Aicon Gallery, New York
2012 'Sightings', Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2011 'Ethos V: Indian Art Through the Lens of History (1900 to 1980), Indigo Blue Art, Singapore 2011 'Masters Ltd: Limited Editions', Gallery Beyond, Mumbai
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2008-09 'Ricorso', Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai; Aicon Gallery, New York 2005-06 ‘Jehangir Sabavala: A Retrospective’, National Gallery of Modern Art , Mumbai and Delhi organized by Sakshi Gallery 2002 ‘Occasions of Light: Recent Paintings by Jehangir Sabavala’, organized by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, Shridharani Gallery, Delhi, Gallery Artsindia, New York 1998 ‘Recent Paintings by Jehangir Sabavala’, organized by Eminence Designs and Apparao Galleries(Chennai) at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1993 ‘Pilgrim, Exile, Sorcerer-Recent Paintings-Jehangir Sabavala’, organized by Gallery Arts Trust (Chennai) at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society (AIFACS), Delhi 1988 ‘Exhibition of Paintings by Jehangir Sabavala’, organized by ITC, The Gallery, Chennai 1988 ‘Exhibition of Paintings by Jehangir Sabavala’, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1983 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1980 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1976 ‘Jehangir Sabavala Paintings’ ‘73 to ‘75’, organized by Gallery Chemould at Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai and Black Partridge Art Gallery, Delhi 1973 ‘Jehangir Sabavala Recent Paintings’, Gallery Chemould, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1972-73 Kunika- Chemould Art Centre, Delhi and Gallery Chemould, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1969 Gallery Chemould, Mumbai 1969 Commonwealth Institute Art Gallery, London and Edinburgh, Scotland 1966 ‘Recent Works of Jehangir Sabavala’, organized by Gallery Chemould, Mumbai at Coomarasawmy Hall, Mumbai; Kunika-Chemould Art Centre, New Delhi1964 Taj Art Gallery, Mumbai 1958 Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1955 ‘Exhibition of Paintings-Jehangir Sabavala’, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1951 ‘Jehangir Sabavala - Exhibition of Paintings and Drawings’, Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai 1958 Paris, France 1949 Monaco
Selected Group Exhibitions
2011 'Form and Formlessness', Art Alive Gallery, Gurgaon 2011 'Anecdotes', Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai
2011 'High-Light', presented by Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai at The Oberoi, Gurgaon
2010-11 'Figure/Landscape: Part Two', Aicon Gallery, London
2010 Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai 2010 'Figure/Landscape: Part One', Aicon Gallery, New York2010 'The Modernists', RL Fine Arts, New York 2009 'Master Class', The Arts Trust, Mumbai2009 'Bharat Ratna! Jewels of Modern Indian Art', Museum of Fine Arts, Boston2005 ‘Trends and Techniques,- Water Color in India’, Galerie 88, Kolkata 2004 ‘The Search’, Mumbai 2004 The Jehangir Nicholson Collection, Mumbai 2003 ‘Rain’, Galerie International and Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai 2001/03/04 ‘Ideas and Images’-III, V, VI, National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA),Mumbai 2001 ‘Palette 2001’, Palette Art Gallery, Delhi 2001 RPG Collection, National Gallery of Modern Art(NGMA), Mumbai 2000 ‘Engendering Images of India’, Guild Art Gallery, Mumbai 2000 ‘Early Works’, Fine Art Company, Mumbai 2000 ‘Erotica’, Fine Art Company, Mumbai 2000 'The Millennium Show', Nehru Centre, Mumbai 2000 'Celebration of the Human Image', Gallery 42, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi 2000 'Distillations', Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Mumbai 2000 'A Sorrowful Mystery', The Arts Trust, National Gallery of Modern Art(NGMA),Mumbai 1999 'The World is Round and Time is Cyclical', Art Today, Delhi 1999 'Flashback – Flash forward', presented by RPG, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1999 'The Indian Fine Arts Society', Singapore 1998 'A Collector's Eye', The Jehangir Nicholson Collection, National Gallery of Modern Art(NGMA),Mumbai 1998 'Indian Contemporary Art', presented by RPG and Bayer, Leverkusen and Monheim, Germany 1998 'Ruminations', Apparao Galleries, Mumbai 1998 'Spirit and Soul, Indian Painting Today', The Rotunda, Hong Kong 1997 'The Search', Apparao Galleries, Chennai, New York 1997 'Rare and Important Paintings', The Classic Source and Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai 1997 'The Looking Glass Self', Gallery Lakeeran, Mumbai 1997 'Colours of Independence', presented by CIMA, Kolkata and the National Gallery of Modern Art(NGMA), New Delhi 1997 '50 Years of Freedom of Expression', presented by RPG, Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1997 'Image beyond Image', the Masanori Fukuoka Collection, National Gallery of Modern Art(NGMA), Mumbai 1997 '50 Years of Art in Mumbai: 1947-97', National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai 1997 'The Searching Spirit', Singapore 1997 'HEART: The Intuitive Logic II', Mumbai 1996 'Chamatkara: Myth & Magic in Indian Art', Whiteleys Art Gallery, London 1996 'Urban Signals Shifting Images', Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Mumbai, Kolkata 1995 'Indian Contemporary Art', Galeri Petronas, Kuala Lumpur 1995 'Art for CRY', Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, Rabindra Bhavan Art Gallery, Delhi 1994-95 'People for Animals Art Show', Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi 1994 'Review 1930-1993', National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi 1992 'Silver Jubilee', Birla Academy of Art and Culture, Kolkata 1992 'Masters of India Art Show', Art's Trust, Mumbai 1992 'Artists against Communalism', Mumbai 1992 'Pioneers to the New Generation', Arts Acre, Kolkata 1990 'Art Mosaic', Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi 1988 'Art for CRY', Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi and Bangalore 1982 'Modern Indian Paintings', Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC 1981 'Indian Painting Today', Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai 1979-81 Kala Yatra's Contemporary Indian Painting & Sculpture, Kuala Lumpur, Kochi, Kolkata 1979 'Asian Artists Exhibition, Fukuoka Art Museum, Tokyo 1975 Gallery Nasrudin, Boston 1975 'Contemporary Art from India', Washington 1975 'Contemporary Artists from Maharashtra', New Delhi 1972-73 '25 Years of Indian Art', New Delhi & Mumbai 1970 'Indian Painters', Tehran 1968 'Art Scene Today', Ahmedabad 1966 'Art Now in India', Ghent 1965 Liang Art Gallery, Newcastle- on-Tyne 1950 Salon National Independent, Paris 1948 Grand Prix de la Peinture de Monaco
Participations
2011 'Roots in the Air, Branches Below: Modern & Contemporary Art from India', San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose 2010 'Evolve: 10th Anniversary Show', Tao Art Gallery, Mumbai 2010 'Roots', 25th Anniversary Exhibition of Sakshi Art Gallery, Mumbai at The Park, Chennai1996,2000,03 'The Harmony Show', Nehru Centre, Mumbai 1991 '7th Triennale India', New Delhi 1976 'Art Exhibition, the 25th Pugwash Conference', Chennai 1965 Commonwealth Arts Festival, London 1964 Contemporary Indian Art Exhibition, Sydney 1954 Venice Biennale, Italy
Honours and Awards
2005 Felicitation by the Society of Contemporary Artists, Kolkata ...
2005 Felicitation by the Society of Contemporary Artists, Kolkata 2004 Lalit Kala Ratna Award presented by the President of India 2003 The Maharashtra Rajya kala Pradarshan Kalakar Vibhag: Satkar 2002 The Dadabhai Naoroji Millennium Award, Mumbai 2001 All India Fine Arts and Crafts Society ‘Kala Ratna’, Delhi 2000 National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai 1993 Art Society of India, Citation 1977 ‘Padma Shri’, by President of India 1949 Grand Prix de la Peinture, Monaco
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