The Gentleman Artist and Padma Shri Jehangir Sabavala is no more

Mr. Sabavala’s 62-year career started with his first solo exhibition at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, put up with the help of fellow artist M F Husain and some carpenters. His last exhibition was in 2008.Beginning his career in the mid 60s, Jehangir Sabavala has always tried to find his own individual style, from the trends being portrayed by his contemporaries. He is one of the first artists in India to organize traveling exhibits, taking his works to different cities.The work of Jehangir Sabavala is heavily influenced by his spiritual affiliation with nature.

His canvases capture the open and majestic changeability of a landscape, reflecting his own liberation of spirit, freed of repression through the process of his work. Sabavala’s visual depiction of nature are the visual equivalent of his emotions; an outlet for his sensationalist subject matter. In Sunflower, Field Vinchurni I, Sabavala creates a vista from a series of sketches made during a visit to a farm in rural Satara, set in the shadow of the Sahyadri Mountains. The yellow dots of flowers stand out amidst the painting’s gentle hue, indicative of the artist’s ability to merge both impressionist and semi-cubist style with subtle grace and charm.

Far from sentimental, Sabavala’s paintings depict the ambivalence of nature with its transcending beauty and sublime magnitude masking, in comparison, the terrifying inconsequence of humankind. His paintings of figures and faces often poignantly mirror the tragic destiny of man. In the subdued They Seek but do not Find (a negative connotation of the teachings of Christ) the viewer comes upon two boys, tired and downcast, sitting among rocks, drawing attention to the mottled gradation of tones that unifies stone, shadows, the leached desert soil, and the hint of vegetation.

Jehangir Sabavala prefers veiled light and middle tones to pure colours and loud imagery, creating geometric wedges out of paint, which he puts together to form vast tranquil scenes.

His art is a mixture of academic, impressionist and cubist texture that plays with form and colour to create a quiet rendering of the scene’s atmosphere. Having acquired a distinct style by the mid 60s, Sabavala has continued to carry reoccurring themes forward into new works yet also touching on unfamiliar territory, breaching new frontiers so that the spirit of adventure and discovery is not fossilized, but remains alive and vital.

Jehangir Sabavala was born in Mumbai in 1922. He studied in the best known art colleges of the world. After receiving his diploma from the J J School of Arts in 1944 he went to Europe and studied in the Heatherley School of art, London from 1945 to 1947, the Academic Andre Lhote from 1948 to 1951 Paris, the Academic Julianfrom 1953 to 1954 and the Academic de la Grande Chaumiere in 1957.

He has held a number of one man shows across India and abroad, and participated in prominent exhibitions all over the world. These include the ’Art Now in India’ Exhibition, the Venice Biennale, the exhibition of the Arts Council of Great Britain, the 7th Triennale, India, the Masters of India Art Show, Mumbai, the Southebys Islamic & Indian Art show, London and the Christies Indian Contemporary Paintings, London. He has participated at the Salon National Independent, Paris 1950, the Venice Biennial, 1954; the Commonwealth Arts Festival' London 1965; Contemporary Art ftom India, Washington 1975; Asian Artists Exhibition, Fukuoka Art Museum Tokyo, 1979 and Modem Indian Painting, Hischhorn Museum Washington 1982. Apart from several international auctions he has also participated in 'Chamatkar-Fantasy in Indian Art' presented by CIMA Gallery at Whiteleys' London 1966

Three monographs have been published on him already, by eminent art publishers including Tata- McGraw-Hill and the Lalit Kala Academy, New Delhi. ‘Colours of Absence’ - a film on his life, won the national award in 1994.

Jehangir Sabavala has also been felicitated with many prestigious awards for his unique and sustained contribution to the field of contemporary Indian Art with a global perspective, one of these distinctions include the Padma Shri, presented bt the Govt. of India to him in 1977.

This grand son of Sir Cawasjee Jehangir is no more, it's a great loss to India and Art World, may his soul rest in peace.

The Ashok Art Gallery is internationally known for one of its most important holdings: more than 2000 major works by the world's most significant Artists.Over the past years, as Ashok Art Gallery has become a major centre for contemporary visual art, the Gallery has built a strong collection of contemporary work of different artists, we became a sponsor of the STANDUP-SPEAKOUT Artshow, Organized by Art Of Living Foundation and United Nations.Organized an International Contenmporary Art Exhibition including artists from USA, The Nederlands, Pakistan and India.We have also participated at Art Expo India 2008, 09 Mumbai and India Art Summit 2008 New Delhi.

RAJIV GANDHI INTERNATIONAL PAINTING CONTEST ON ENVIRONMENT'

We are a product of our environment. So choose the environment that will best develop you toward your objective. Analyze your life in terms of its environment. Are the things around you helping you toward success - or are they holding you back?We generate our own environment. We get exactly what we deserve. How can we resent a life we've created ourselves? Who's to blame, who's to credit but us? Who can change it, anytime we wish, but us?
Here is an opportunity for all to express our feelings towards a safer and cleaner environment..

‎'RAJIV GANDHI INTERNATIONAL PAINTING CONTEST ON ENVIRONMENT'.
Join Right now..!!!

‘Rajiv Gandhi International Painting Contest on Environment’ is an online painting competition for kids, school students and adults around the globe on environment to spread the message ‘Save the Earth’ . The contest was inaugurated by Smt. Sheila Dixit, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Delhi State, India on 5th June 2010, ‘THE WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY’ and will be ended o...n 3rd August 2010 (60 days online contest).

Join Right now..!!!

TERMS & CONDITIONS:

01. Entry to the online contest is free for all candidates and is open for all Citizens around the world.

02. The contest will be conducted in different ‘Groups’ for kids, school students and adults as follows:

Group A: Children - 4 to 5 years old. (Coloring with Crayons only)
Group B: Class I : (Coloring with Crayons only);
Group C: Class II : (Coloring with Crayons only);
Group D: Class III : (Coloring with Crayons only);
Group E: Class IV : (Coloring with Water Colors only);
Group F: Class V : (Painting with Water Colors only);
Group G: Class VI : (Painting with Water Colors only);
Group H: Class VII : (Painting with Water Colors only);
Group I: Class VIII : (Painting with Water Colors only);
Group J: Class IX : (Painting with Water Colors only);
Group K: Class X : (Painting with Water Colors only);
Group L: Class XI : (Painting with Water Colors only);
Group M: Class XII : (Painting with Water Colors only);
Group N: Adults above 18 years old : (Painting with Water Colors only);

03. The online painting contest was started at 5.30 PM (GMT) on 5th June 2010 (World Environment Day) and will be ended at 5.30 PM (GMT) on 3rd August 2010 (60 days contest).

04. The online contest will be conducted through www.facebook.com only. All interested participants must have an account in Facebook and join the ‘Group’ of ‘Congress South Indian Forum (Delhi State Committee)’

05. All interested participants are requested to send your paintings before 3rd August 2010 by e-mail to: facebook.painting@gmail.com.

06. Along with paintings, attach your photograph (PP size) and please write the following details in the e-mail:

Name of Participant:
Father / Guardian’s Name:
Age & Date of Birth:
Gender:
Name & Postal Address of School (students):
Class & Division (students):
Residence Address:
Mobile & Land Phone No.:
E-mail Address:
(Photograph is compulsory for participation)

07. Please don’t write your name or any other details in the painting.

08. One participant can send up to 3 paintings (together or separate) within the contest period of 60 days time. All these 3 paintings will be considered for competition with different Registration Nos.

09. All participants must send their ‘Original Paintings’ along with photograph and registration details by registered post / courier to our Delhi office immediately. All the paintings will be displayed in the venue of ‘Award Giving Ceremony’ which will be conducted in Delhi. Send your paintings to: Mr. Rajeev Joseph, 19/502, N.R. Complex, Srinivaspuri, New Delhi-110065, Mob: +91-9873278090.

10. We will upload your paintings with Registration Nos. to the contest page as soon as we received your paintings and other details by e-mail.

11. All paintings will be uploaded in the group page of ‘Congress South Indian Forum (Delhi State Committee)’.

12. If there is any malpractices in the paintings and registration, those participants will be disqualified from the contest any time.

13. Copyright of all paintings sent to this online competition is to be assigned to the contest organizers (Congress South Indian Forum).

14. Painting that have already been shown elsewhere or accepted for another contest will not qualify for this competition.

15. Paintings that show a particular person, an organization or a brand name will not be accepted in the paintings.

16. The management of ‘Congress South Indian Forum’ has the right to reduce the duration of the contest or extend the contest period, if necessary.

17. The ‘10 Member Team of Judges’ will be declared the winners of ‘Each Group’ on 7th August 2010.

18. The winners will be awarded with ‘Merit Certificates and Trophies’ in the ‘Award Giving Ceremony’ which will be conducted at Delhi on 20th August 2010, the 66th Birth Anniversary of Late Shri. Rajiv Gandhi, Hon’ble Former Prime Minister of India.

19. All the participants will be awarded with ‘Participation Certificates’ in the Award Giving Ceremony’ or it can be posted to the participants who pay the postal charges.

20. The organizers has the right to change the ‘Terms & Conditions’ any time for the smooth running of this contest.

21. If there is any disputes regarding contest results, timings, groups etc. the decision of ‘Congress South Indian Forum’ will be final.

The Ashok Art Gallery is internationally known for one of its most important holdings: more than 2000 major works by the world's most significant Artists.Over the past years, as Ashok Art Gallery has become a major centre for contemporary visual art, the Gallery has built a strong collection of contemporary work of different artists, we became a sponsor of the STANDUP-SPEAKOUT Artshow, Organized by Art Of Living Foundation and United Nations.Organized an International Contenmporary Art Exhibition including artists from USA, The Nederlands, Pakistan and India.We have also participated at Art Expo India 2008, 09 Mumbai and India Art Summit 2008 New Delhi.

Even though public art in India is limited, art is going public through fairs, works of F N Souza, Ram Kumar and Satish Gujral were at ART EXPO INDIA

Nehru Centre in Mumbai might not be frequented by art connoisseurs but last weekend over 20,000 enthusiasts were visited the venue to view artwork from 30 galleries around the world at Art Expo India. “It’s a forum that allows viewers to look at a collection that is representative,” says Vickram Sethi, chairman of the three-day fair. He adds, “Entering galleries could be intimidating and a forum like this helps initiate new people into the world art.”
Day-3 was rushed, those who has visited again came to finalize their deal and those who were in Navaratri fast also came after ending their puja, the discussion forum was also very interesting.Sharan Apparao, Menaka Kumari-Shah and Brian Brown, the three proven art experts, mulled over ‘buying art in today’s recessionary times’ at Art Expo India 2009. Their opinions count because all three are well versed with the ground realities of the art market.

Menaka Kumari-Shah, India Representative of the Christies, brings considerable knowledge and experience of the domain. Starting with a Mumbai-based charity, where she arranged exhibits and auctions. She further developed a career in the arts. She joined Christie’s London (2005) as a coordinator for its biennial Arts of India auction, after apprenticing in the Indian Dept. of the British Museum.

Sharan Apparao has built Apparao Galleries into one of the leading contemporary art avenues in India. She is tuned to the changing trends including globalization of art. Her keen interest and passion for contemporary art drives Apparao Galleries that caters to the aesthetic needs of the eclectic clients. Thanks to her astute insight, the gallery has unearthed some of the most renowned names on contemporary Indian art scene.

Brian Brown, who holds a degree in Finance & Economics from California State University, Sonoma, is a financial and stock market expert with immense passion for art collecting. He is currently focused on creating liquidity in the Indian Private Equity space. He is an avid collector and researcher of contemporary Indian art.

The tone and intent of the talk was extremely positive and encouraging for prospective buyers. Menaka Kumari-Shah observed that there has been a perceptible change in the profile of buyers. The major difference, she noted that, art buying earlier was driven by a sense of patriotism. NRIs connected to their homeland though it. However, after the art boom that happened five years ago, domestic interest in the Indian art scene grew multifold.

According to her, a class of buyers priced out of the market, during the phase is gradually returning to it. Sharan Apparao, unwinding the ups and downs of the market cycle, underlined the fact that ‘investors’ essentially followed market trends, but now true collectors were back on the scene. She noted that even the investor-type-of-buyers were not such a negative force and that she enjoyed working with both sets of buyers.

Brian Brown underlined the fact that markets were currently going through a consolidation phase, having witnessed both the boom and the bust. He observed that people look at art and property as tangible assets compared to something else that may disappear. Pointing to the correlation between the stock markets and the alternate asset classes like art, he emphasized the lag effect and believed that the latter was already on a recovery path.
ART EXPO INDIA 2009 has ended with a promising note, it will again back on december 2010 said organizer.

The Ashok Art Gallery is internationally known for one of its most important holdings: more than 2000 major works by the world's most significant Artists.Over the past years, as Ashok Art Gallery has become a major centre for contemporary visual art, the Gallery has built a strong collection of contemporary work of different artists, we became a sponsor of the STANDUP-SPEAKOUT Artshow, Organized by Art Of Living Foundation and United Nations.Organized an International Contenmporary Art Exhibition including artists from USA, The Nederlands, Pakistan and India.We have also participated at Art Expo India Mumbai and India Art Summit New Delhi.

Walking through Art Expo India 2009 in Mumbai’s Nehru Centre, it’s hard to imagine that there is a global economic crisis: DAY-2

The second edition of Art Expo India witnessed participation of several art galleries as well art experts not only from India, but also internationally. In an insightful talk on the last day of the event, she discussed Indian art from a global perspective. There is also interest in the art scene in India from foreign buyers. Auctions of Indian art abroad have had paintings go for as much as $1.6m (Dh5.88m) last year. That was for a Husain work, but the other artists are also doing well, selling for tens of thousands of dollars. At the Korea International Art Fair, India was the guest country. At Art Expo India, the inaugural speech was by Kay Saatchi, the ex-wife of Charles Saatchi, and an art world doyenne in her own right. Today, there will be a talk by Kirsty Ogg, curator of the Whitechapel Gallery in London. “India is on the map,” she says, cheerfully. “The sales in London have been quite good, especially of a core group of Indian artists.” She believes the worst of the tough economic times is behind us: “It’s not quite as catastrophic anymore,” she says, adding: “Just because the sales have dropped, it doesn’t affect the intellectual value of the artwork.”

On eve of her participation at Art Expo India, She was interviewed by Pronoti Datta of TOI. In this post, we reproduce the interesting Q-n-A for the benefit of our readers:

Q: What's your view of the Indian art scene?
A: Over the last eight years, the representation of Indian art has been gaining on the international art scene. And not just on a commercial level. Artists have been appearing in exhibitions like Documenta, the Venice Biennale and publicly funded galleries. So there's a high visibility and awareness about Indian art.

There's also a range of media-from new media to photography-being used in India. What's interesting is that there are two sides to it (Indian art)-in terms of the form of the work that can slip into circulation on the international art scene and the context that has an Indian texture.

Q: Does Whitechapel plan to exhibit Indian art in the near future?
A: We're working on a massive show of Indian photography from the 1860s. It will look at the moment when India took control of the camera. There are the first studio portraits by Deendayal. Among the 70 photographers featured are Pushpamala, Dayanita Singh, Sheeba Chhachhi, Raghu Rai Raghubir Singh and Homai Vyarawala.

There's a real mix between fine art practices that use photography as the medium, documentary photography, straight photography and images that are part of NGO projects. The exhibit will be a virtual lesson in history with images from pre and post-partition India and snapshots from Pakistan as well as Bangladesh.

Q: How has the financial crisis affected art throughout the world?
A: England had a wobble but now things have stabilized. The situation was bad for Indian art because it was coming up on the wave. On the positive side, recession made people reassess basic questions like why have a gallery, who is the audience or who are the prospective buyers?

In Britain we've gone through good and bad times. In the late 1980s, there was a recession and galleries closed. People like Damien Hirst organized shows like ‘Freeze', which happened in a building in Canary Wharf. They didn't wait for a gallery. They made their own show. As artists you have to take a bit of authority. The fundamental questions artists need to answer are: ‘Who sees my work and who's buying my work?’

Just because your work sells, it's not necessarily good. You hope it sells to a good collector who takes care of it. Work quickly sold by a collector can undermine an artist's career. In fact, people start thinking whether the work is good or not.


The Ashok Art Gallery is internationally known for one of its most important holdings: more than 2000 major works by the world's most significant Artists.Over the past years, as Ashok Art Gallery has become a major centre for contemporary visual art, the Gallery has built a strong collection of contemporary work of different artists. became a sponsor of the STANDUP-SPEAKOUT Artshow, Organized by Art Of Living Foundation and United Nations.Organized an International Contenmporary Art Exhibition including artists from USA, The Nederlands, Pakistan and India.We have also participated at Art Expo India Mumbai and India Art Summit New Delhi.

The India Art Fair ART EXPO INDIA 2009 at Nehru Centre DAY-1

It was 25th sept. 2009 , at around 11 am started a special Preview for invited people ART EXPO INDIA 2009, the much-awaited event on India’s art calendar, has been held at Nehru Centre, Mumbai last week. The who’s who of the art world including renowned artists, art experts, collectors, patrons and aspiring investors thronged the venue to celebrate the throbbing spirit of modern and contemporary Indian art.

Art Expo India aims to offer the wave of new Indian talent a perfect launch pad on the domestic and international market. An encouragement to young painters so that collectors notice them coupled with a boost to the culture of value-based investing in art is reflected in AEI’s program, which features a series of insightful talks on art related themes.

Acknowledged for her insight of contemporary art trends, Kay Saatchi discussed the nuances of the fine art of collecting art in conversation with in the inaugural session. She has co-curated several exhibitions for the Saatchi Collection. She vigorously promotes young artists in her role as the founding director of the Artists and Collectors Exchange.

Art expert Mallika Sagar Advani conversed with Kay Saatchi who elaborated on the intricate maze of relationships between an artist and a collector, between a dealer and an artist, and a dealer and a collector, hinting that the interlinking of interests has to be based on trust. She provided valuable tips on becoming a successful collector and also offered tips to aspiring curators and gallery owners

During her conversation with Mallika Sagar Advani at the inaugural talk session at Art Expo India 2009, art expert Kay Saatchi revealed at the outset that anticipation is the key when it comes to building your art collection.

She added: “The process involves immense amount of groundwork – visiting art schools, checking out shows at art galleries, spotting the new talent, and finding out who are the next art stars.” She narrated how she studied close to 600 artists’ works to pick her top 20 as part of a similar such exercise.

What are the attributes to watch out for in an emerging artist, she was asked, According to Kay Saatchi, coupled with a certain amount of skill, what she looks for is the artist’s commitment and passion to make art. Integrity and determination are necessary along with the natural talent, she emphasized.

Mallika Sagar Advani’s pertinent queries regarding the current complex dynamics of contemporary art and its evolving structure prompted responses from Kay Saatchi based on her deep understanding and practical experience. The conversation also touched upon various aspects like her role as a curator, her involvement in an artist’s career, the broader market mechanics, the transition to auction dominated art market from a gallery dominated one, the changed norms of collecting, maintaining and upgrading an art collection.

The moderator also tracked Kay Saatchi’s own evolution as an art collector-curator, seeking her opinion on things that create value in an artwork. It was an engrossing and entertaining discussion as Priyanka Sethi summed it up at the end, stating: “The conversation was stimulating, honest and extremely informative. The more, we think, we know about the art world, we find something new, something more interesting and something more exciting, and something even shocking every time. That’s the beauty and joy of art.” But then we need helping hand from experts like Mallika Sagar Advani and Kay Saatchi to discover it.


The Ashok Art Gallery is internationally known for one of its most important holdings: more than 2000 major works by the world's most significant Artists.Over the past years, as Ashok Art Gallery has become a major centre for contemporary visual art, the Gallery has built a strong collection of contemporary work of different artists, became a sponsor of the STANDUP-SPEAKOUT Artshow, Organized by Art Of Living Foundation and United Nations.Organized an International Contenmporary Art Exhibition including artists from USA, The Nederlands, Pakistan and India.We have also participated at Art Expo India Mumbai and India Art Summit New Delhi.