The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (formerly called the Prince of Wales Museum) now houses the Jehangir Nicholson Gallery. Renowned art patron Jehangir Nicholson’s comprehensive collection of nearly 800 paintings, drawings prints and sculptures, spanning nearly seven decades - from 1930s to 2001 – has just been thrown open to the public.
A well-known cotton merchant in the 1960s in the city of Mumbai, Jehangir Nicholson is known to have moved around it quite a bit, architects in tow, looking for possible venues to fructify his concept of a public museum. He died in 2001, at the age of 86, and his dream was left unfulfilled.
Now curator of the collection, Zasha Colah, has ensured that a blueprint of his museum to house his collection of modern and contemporary art from India finally comes into reality. This is, for sure, the best outcome he could have expected for his extensive collection even during his lifetime. For the humble fellow who spent major part of his life striving to construct a museum of his dream, this is a perfect homage. A gritty man, he had also requested the government of Maharashtra to give him some space in Mumbai for the proposed structure, but to no avail.
In his will, the passionate collector had sought the liquidation of his entire assets for supporting a foundation, which would manage his collection. He had appointed his lawyer Kaiwan Kalyaniwalla and nephew Cyrus Guzder as trustees. With the CSMVS director Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s support, the two convinced the museum board for accommodating Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation (JNAF) collection at its historic structure. It’s a perfect partnership as a proud legacy legacy finds an apt resting place while the museum can treat as an extension of its own ancient Indian art collection.
A major portion of its recently constructed 2nd floor annexe is now taken up by the JNAF collection.
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