His passionate art practice was an amalgamation of academic, impressionist and cubist texture. The octogenarian artist Jehangir Sabavala right till his last breath and despite illness continued to paint with passion, scaling new artistic peaks and treading new paths of creativity so that the spirit of discovery remains alive and intact. His evolution as an artist over the last fifty years is simply fascinating. He came a long way since his debut solo show arranged with the help of artist MF Husain at Mumbai’s Taj Hotel...
The tentative and brittle lines of the 1960s in works like ‘Sails on a Blue Day’ gradually gave way to the more mature representations of the '80s marked by precise artistry. ‘The Friendly Shepherds’ a more recent canvas done in 2000, stands for grandiloquence and poise. Comprised of fragments of his known Cubist leanings, it exhibits intense streaks of contradictions and creativity.
He also painted cityscapes in the recent years. Mapping these transitions, Mumbai’s Sakshi Gallery released a comprehensive audio-visual documentation on the eve of his show ‘Ricorso' that charted an overtly autobiographical trajectory.
Revealing the nuances of his practice, an accompanying note stated: “The songs of the seasons continue sans pause in his work. There’s majesty of nature, a fascination for the changing light and color, a love of the muted tones, and a desire to distill the diversity of experience. While looking back, the artist tries to convey the shape of a career that started in the early 1950s and still goes on unabated.”
An intriguing interplay of fascinating forms, startlingly vivid colors and soothing imagery exhibits his spiritual affiliation with nature. Elaborating on his painterly processes, the veteran artist had stated, "I’m essentially a figurative painter. A strong predilection towards landscape is central to my works, albeit the figure - whether wraith-like or human - is often present as an integral part of the whole."
The tentative and brittle lines of the 1960s in works like ‘Sails on a Blue Day’ gradually gave way to the more mature representations of the '80s marked by precise artistry. ‘The Friendly Shepherds’ a more recent canvas done in 2000, stands for grandiloquence and poise. Comprised of fragments of his known Cubist leanings, it exhibits intense streaks of contradictions and creativity.
He also painted cityscapes in the recent years. Mapping these transitions, Mumbai’s Sakshi Gallery released a comprehensive audio-visual documentation on the eve of his show ‘Ricorso' that charted an overtly autobiographical trajectory.
Revealing the nuances of his practice, an accompanying note stated: “The songs of the seasons continue sans pause in his work. There’s majesty of nature, a fascination for the changing light and color, a love of the muted tones, and a desire to distill the diversity of experience. While looking back, the artist tries to convey the shape of a career that started in the early 1950s and still goes on unabated.”
An intriguing interplay of fascinating forms, startlingly vivid colors and soothing imagery exhibits his spiritual affiliation with nature. Elaborating on his painterly processes, the veteran artist had stated, "I’m essentially a figurative painter. A strong predilection towards landscape is central to my works, albeit the figure - whether wraith-like or human - is often present as an integral part of the whole."
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