Important Notice

Lot 19

 

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"If I think of one aspect that was the most important thing at that time, it was a sense of freedom and experimentation in what we were doing. It didn't matter if we went wrong. What was important was to try to see what happens."
- S H RAZA

A study of S H Raza's oeuvre gives us an insight into the various art movements that influenced his tremendous body of work over the decades. However, it is the fluid nature of his... "If I think of one aspect that was the most important thing at that time, it was a sense of freedom and experimentation in what we were doing. It didn't matter if we went wrong. What was important was to try to see what happens."
- S H RAZA

A study of S H Raza's oeuvre gives us an insight into the various art movements that influenced his tremendous body of work over the decades. However, it is the fluid nature of his early works -- inspired by the sights and sounds of Bombay -- that highlight his open and uninhibited mind when it comes to artistic exploration. One of his early watercolours, the present lot brings the everyday scene of fishing boats docked at Versova to life in expressive detail. The play of light and colour demonstrates Raza's artistic maturity even at this early stage in his career, as does his ability to portray a sense of motion through the figures in the painting. Acquired by Emil Weber, the present lot was once part of a Bombay Art Society exhibition during the 1940s.

EMIL WEBER

In the late 1930s, many European companies set up a base for trade in India, including a group of Swiss automotive companies who had their headquarters in Bombay. Among the company representatives that arrived in the city was Emil Weber, who worked with the famous Schweizerische Lokomotiv und Maschinenfabrik (Swiss Locomotive and Machine Works) manufacturing company, or SLM as they were popularly known. A global company for producing steam and electric locomotive engines, SLM built locomotives for the Indian Railways back in 1928 and the years that followed.

As most of these Swiss companies originated from the town of Winterthur near Zurich, the company men in Bombay were very well acquainted with each other. During World War I, they were advised not to travel back home and they subsequently settled down in the Bandra and Cumbala Hill neighbourhoods of Bombay, forming a "Swiss Colony." One of these representatives, Mr. Scherrer from Volkart Brothers, became acquainted with Kekoo Gandhy, who owned Chemould Frames, a picture frame manufacturing company. Through his business, Gandhy had come to know the young generation of artists in Bombay at the time, including Raza. Gandhy, who went on to become one of India's foremost art patrons, exhibited paintings in his showroom window while promoting them to prospective clients such as Mr. Weber.

The family recalls that Mr. Weber became a patron of Raza's early works, including suggesting the artist paint the view of the Girgaum Chowpatty Bay, a work which won the Gold medal in the 1948 Bombay Art Society exhibition. He later went to great lengths to acquire the painting even though it was not listed for sale. Mr. Weber eventually left India in 1949 and returned to Switzerland. He remained an avid collector of Raza's paintings for decades to come, even visiting Raza in Paris in 1982-- the same year in which he acquired lot 20 from an exhibition at Galerie Loeb in Bern.

Lots 19 and 20 were once part of Mr. Weber's private collection.

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