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Lot 33

 

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The present lot, a monumental figure of Kali, is one of only a few paintings Tyeb Mehta ever made on this subject. Three large-format standing Kali figures were all painted in a brief period between 1988 and 1989, of which the present lot is the largest. He revisited the subject in later years, painting a few smaller format Kali busts. Mehta's Kali references the divine entity whose mythology and iconography is about the ultimate triumph... The present lot, a monumental figure of Kali, is one of only a few paintings Tyeb Mehta ever made on this subject. Three large-format standing Kali figures were all painted in a brief period between 1988 and 1989, of which the present lot is the largest. He revisited the subject in later years, painting a few smaller format Kali busts. Mehta's Kali references the divine entity whose mythology and iconography is about the ultimate triumph of good over evil, the cycle of creation and destruction.

Kali is the fiercest aspect of the ten forms of Shakti. Considered the destroyer of evil, Kali is one of Shiva's consorts and there are multiple legends about her origin. According to the Devi Mahatmaya, an ancient text scripted during the 5th-6th centuries, Kali emerged during Durga's battle with the demon Raktabija. She is said to have gone on a rampage, attempting to destroy everything in sight. To end her reign of terror, Shiva threw himself under her feet, which supressed her rage. The conventional iconography of Kali depicts her with a bluish-black complexion wearing a necklace made from the skulls of her enemies, four arms-one of which carries a sword and the other a skull-while a supine, corpse-like Shiva lies at her feet. Mehta's rendition of the goddess is devoid of most of these attributes, but the protruding, blood-red tongue perfectly conveys the rage and destruction, and subsequently the cycle of creation associated with her.

As in Mehta's paintings of falling figures and birds, his Kali group of paintings indicate the artist's interest in the juxtapositions and contradictions of the human condition. Art critic Yashodhara Dalmia suggests that Mehta's overpowering cobalt and Prussian blue figure indicates a capacity for great destruction, and yet is able to contain it. "Even as the Prussian blue Kali image is powerful and virulent, the ample maternal stomach at the same time has a nurturing function. Kali simultaneously creates as she destroys. It is as if the long years of flayed and hurtling forms are finally contained and transformed into a cosmic act." (Yashodhara Dalmia, The Making of Modern Indian Art: The Progressives, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 219)

In the large format present lot, Mehta takes an image that is ubiquitous in much of India and transforms it into an unconventional icon to make an artistic statement. His sources of inspiration on this journey come from actual images of the goddess in various cultural and regional incarnations as well his understanding of the metaphor itself. "It might have been the vision of the goddess depicted as a mere black piece of marble without a head or eyes, with only a fiery tongue, garlanded in marigold, which he saw at the Kalighat temple in Calcutta that struck the initial chord in Tyeb, for he was impressed by the powerful abstract quality of the sculpture." (Yashodhara Dalmia, Tyeb Mehta: Triumph of Vision, New Delhi: Vadehra Art Gallery, 2011, p. 17) In painting the mythological, as he continued to do in his later Mahishasura series, Mehta blends tradition with modernity, reinventing this ancient goddess into a modern metaphor. "A classical image, yet at the same time contemporary, she seemed to emerge like a heraldic icon from the surrounding abyss." (Dalmia, Tyeb Mehta, p. 17)

TYEB MEHTA, EBRAHIM ALKAZI, AND THE THEATRE OF ART
MEERA GODBOLE-KRISHNAMURTHY

The relationship between an artist and his art is complex. That between the artist and his collector is even more so. But the relationship between the collector and his art is possibly the most profoundly personal of all. In the case of Tyeb Mehta, his monumental Kali painting, and theatre legend Ebrahim Alkazi, the relationship is rich and layered, offering profundity of the best kind.

Theatre and art were inextricably linked for Alkazi, the eminent former director of the National School of Drama. A true renaissance man, Alkazi's involvement in the theatre has been as meaningful as his interest in art. He was part of the fraternity of artists which included Gaitonde, Padamsee and Mehta, at the Bhulabhai Desai Memorial Institute in Bombay in the in 1950s. Husain and Mehta, at various points, designed the sets for Alkazi's theatre productions. Mehta and Alkazi shared a unique friendship that was based on deep mutual respect and admiration of each other's artistic sensibilities. It was not surprising that Alkazi inaugurated the first and largest solo exhibition of Mehta's work at the Jehangir Art Gallery in 1959. In a glowing endorsement of Mehta's work in the Theatre Unit Bulletin that year, he spoke of the "essential significance of [Mehta's] art" and described it as having "dignity".

Mehta, who had spent most of his life in very urban cities found his time in Santiniketan in the early 1980s to be a revelation. The artist who had already painted falling figures and trussed bulls, discovered a new vocabulary in the local customs of the Durga puja and ritual sacrifices which were tied to faith, and rich in symbolism. The Kali paintings emerged from this exposure, in which Mehta was profoundly impacted by the breadth of cultural complexity, art traditions and drama, which are part of rural India. The theatricality of depicting an image in a frozen moment of inaction just before a big event occurs, has always been a critical element of Mehta's art. And so, when the massive, standing Kali, with her monumental powers of rage and destruction appeared on Mehta's canvas, her impact far exceeded the bounds of the Prussian blue image on a 67 x 54 inch canvas.

Alkazi's daughter, Amal Allana points out that her father and Mehta were kindred spirits in their "understanding of the tragic temperament." Alkazi, well-known for his massive productions of Greek tragedy, was well versed in the profound theatricality of violence that lay at the core of the human condition. Mehta, whose art was similarly driven by an underlying engagement with events he had witnessed during the Partition, found in the cosmic juxtapositions of Kali, a vehicle for this exploration. Alkazi understood the depth of layered meaning that Mehta's Kali represented. Her stance, her poise, the ghostly, falling half-figure to her side, the skull-like mass at her feet, the selective shades of blue anchored by the essential and striking red mouth, capture the theatre of art. This Kali is as controlled as she is powerful, in a moment of repose, surveying her own majestic powers. There is an inherent sense of drama that would have been obvious to Alkazi. He also realised that this painting marked a significant moment in Mehta's own trajectory as an artist. Allana observes that for her father, it was the works which were turning points in an artist's career that mattered. That the present lot was one of the works he acquired for his private collection, speaks to its importance in Mehta's journey as an artist.

In 2007, Dinesh Vazirani, a long standing family friend, recalls being invited to Delhi by the formidable Alkazi, and being faced with a conundrum. Alkazi showed him two paintings by Mehta - one was a Mahishasura and the other was the present lot. Alkazi asked him which one he would choose for the next Saffronart auction. Vazirani was flummoxed by the question but upon Alkazi's cryptic insistence, selected the Kali. Alkazi complimented him on his choice, saying, "that is the one Tyeb would have chosen." The present lot was thus first auctioned by Saffronart in June 2007. Now, years later, when one is able to absorb the immensity of the provenance of this iconic work, it acquires added significance as a testament to the deep friendship between two giants on the post-Independence Indian cultural scene. In addition to its outstanding merit as a work of art, this painting embodies the intimate connection between artist, art and collector.

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