Important Notice

Since Tyeb Mehta first painted a trussed bull in 1956, the figure of this animal has remained with him and reappeared in his work across various media including painting, sculpture and film. Representing power, violence, anguish and vulnerability, the bull came to symbolize Mehta's own experiences, particularly of the communal rioting and loss of agency and life following the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. He recalls, "There was a... Since Tyeb Mehta first painted a trussed bull in 1956, the figure of this animal has remained with him and reappeared in his work across various media including painting, sculpture and film. Representing power, violence, anguish and vulnerability, the bull came to symbolize Mehta's own experiences, particularly of the communal rioting and loss of agency and life following the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. He recalls, "There was a municipality place at Kennedy Bridge at Opera House [Mumbai] where these cows and buffaloes used to be caught and brought. I used to go and sketch there. Then from there I moved to the slaughterhouse at Bandra near the Masjid. Actually I shot three minutes of my film [Koodal] there. Those three minutes are the most poignant sequence in my film. It's an image which is very near to my mental make-up. The bull is a powerful animal and when its legs are tied down and it's thrown down it's an assault on life itself" (from a 1989 interview with Yashodhara Dalmia, "Metamorphosis: From Mammal to Man", Tyeb Mehta - Triumph of Vision, Vadehra Art Gallery exhibition catalogue, 2011, p. 7).

Read More
Artist Profile
Other works of this artist in: this auction  |  entire site