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Lot Essay
"Over a hundred leading artists collected under SAHMAT's banner, in Bombay in mid-March to signal once again the integrative powers of art" ('Artists Against Communalism; Strain of Sweet Secular Music', The Economic Times, New Delhi, 1 April 1992)
Falling Figure was used as the central backdrop for the, Artists Against Communalism (AAC) 12 hour cultural sit-in organized by SAHMAT at Shivaji Park on 14 March 1992. It became the banner under which artists communed in creative unity.
At that very moment at Shivaji Park, Tyeb's life long pre-occupation culminated with complete clarity and purpose and though frail from sickness he accepted to work on the enormous banner with an associate under his close direction. Outlined against red that spills like blood across the canvas, it represents the essence of Tyeb's own work at a scale he never attempted before. This central square section of the banner was preserved after the event and signed by Tyeb.
"Tyeb Mehta got up from a very sick-bed, against his doctor's orders, and painted the outstanding blow-up of his traffic leitmotif 'falling figure' for the extensive backdrop of the stage erected for the 12 hour cultural sit-in at Shivaji Park". (V. Monterio, The Economic Times, 1 April 1992)
The idiom of the falling figure, a subject Tyeb often revisited was born out of a traumatic memory from his childhood when he witnessed the violent death of a man during the Partition riots of 1947. Therefore the quotation of the falling figure, in the context of this event, brings this experience for Tyeb Mehta full circle. This painting represents an exceptional moment of synergy between Tyeb's artistic and social concerns. The initial inspiration for and meaning behind the idiom of the falling figure in Tyeb's oeuvre is directly associated with its use at the AAC meeting. The free falling figure represents an impending loss of control and the inevitable fall of man from grace in atonement for their fateful hubris. The current work was created as a didactic icon, one which implemented an aesthetic that is not only profoundly personal and spiritual but used for a uniquely socio-political purpose. Against the backdrop of violence and unrest of 1992, a year that would see thousands lose their lives in the communal violence of the Bombay Riots, Tyeb imbued this work with a directness and potency which sets it apart from any other in his falling figure series.
"We may infer, also, that these obsessional images, autobiographical in import, gradually gained significance as Tyeb externalised them, reflecting on them, and allowed them to shimmer against the wider canvas of society." (R. Hoskote, Tyeb Mehta, Images and Exchanges, New Delhi, 2005, p.14) This public work is the very embodiment of this sentiment where his image becomes actively involved -- a willing participant in the event.
"During the five decades that he has spent in the contemplation of suffering, Tyeb has condensed melancholy histories of violence into austere forms [...] Armoured only in their fateful heroism, these icons have encrypted Tyeb's private demons while also embodying his intuitions concerning the social and political formation of which he is a member." (R. Hoskote, Tyeb Mehta, Images and Exchanges, New Delhi, 2005, p. 21)
Through elegant economy of line, the forcefulness of the backdrop is accentuated. The figure is brutally foreshortened as if in the final furlong of a frightful fall. It is left up to the viewer to decide whether this figure is emerging from or tumbling toward the blood red pool which soaks up the background. If this is indeed analogous to the destiny of man, this figure is at a critical moment, balancing between damnation and absolution.
In selecting this sumptuously sparse symbol, drenched in power Tyeb mobilized a movement, raising consciousness of communalism and its associated violence. This violence had fissured the skin of the subcontinent and haunted the memory of its people since 1947. This painting is as much a monument of mourning for those that have suffered, from the legacy of Partition as a call to action. Cultural diversity and artistic creativity became voices for this.
"After the concert one was left with yet another definition of communalism -- it is the richness and variety of our national history and culture. To those who are seeking creative ways and means of promoting secularism. It established that there are hundreds of modes of integration waiting to be discovered." (V. Monterio, The Economic Times, 1 April 1992)
Falling Figure was used as the central backdrop for the, Artists Against Communalism (AAC) 12 hour cultural sit-in organized by SAHMAT at Shivaji Park on 14 March 1992. It became the banner under which artists communed in creative unity.
At that very moment at Shivaji Park, Tyeb's life long pre-occupation culminated with complete clarity and purpose and though frail from sickness he accepted to work on the enormous banner with an associate under his close direction. Outlined against red that spills like blood across the canvas, it represents the essence of Tyeb's own work at a scale he never attempted before. This central square section of the banner was preserved after the event and signed by Tyeb.
"Tyeb Mehta got up from a very sick-bed, against his doctor's orders, and painted the outstanding blow-up of his traffic leitmotif 'falling figure' for the extensive backdrop of the stage erected for the 12 hour cultural sit-in at Shivaji Park". (V. Monterio, The Economic Times, 1 April 1992)
The idiom of the falling figure, a subject Tyeb often revisited was born out of a traumatic memory from his childhood when he witnessed the violent death of a man during the Partition riots of 1947. Therefore the quotation of the falling figure, in the context of this event, brings this experience for Tyeb Mehta full circle. This painting represents an exceptional moment of synergy between Tyeb's artistic and social concerns. The initial inspiration for and meaning behind the idiom of the falling figure in Tyeb's oeuvre is directly associated with its use at the AAC meeting. The free falling figure represents an impending loss of control and the inevitable fall of man from grace in atonement for their fateful hubris. The current work was created as a didactic icon, one which implemented an aesthetic that is not only profoundly personal and spiritual but used for a uniquely socio-political purpose. Against the backdrop of violence and unrest of 1992, a year that would see thousands lose their lives in the communal violence of the Bombay Riots, Tyeb imbued this work with a directness and potency which sets it apart from any other in his falling figure series.
"We may infer, also, that these obsessional images, autobiographical in import, gradually gained significance as Tyeb externalised them, reflecting on them, and allowed them to shimmer against the wider canvas of society." (R. Hoskote, Tyeb Mehta, Images and Exchanges, New Delhi, 2005, p.14) This public work is the very embodiment of this sentiment where his image becomes actively involved -- a willing participant in the event.
"During the five decades that he has spent in the contemplation of suffering, Tyeb has condensed melancholy histories of violence into austere forms [...] Armoured only in their fateful heroism, these icons have encrypted Tyeb's private demons while also embodying his intuitions concerning the social and political formation of which he is a member." (R. Hoskote, Tyeb Mehta, Images and Exchanges, New Delhi, 2005, p. 21)
Through elegant economy of line, the forcefulness of the backdrop is accentuated. The figure is brutally foreshortened as if in the final furlong of a frightful fall. It is left up to the viewer to decide whether this figure is emerging from or tumbling toward the blood red pool which soaks up the background. If this is indeed analogous to the destiny of man, this figure is at a critical moment, balancing between damnation and absolution.
In selecting this sumptuously sparse symbol, drenched in power Tyeb mobilized a movement, raising consciousness of communalism and its associated violence. This violence had fissured the skin of the subcontinent and haunted the memory of its people since 1947. This painting is as much a monument of mourning for those that have suffered, from the legacy of Partition as a call to action. Cultural diversity and artistic creativity became voices for this.
"After the concert one was left with yet another definition of communalism -- it is the richness and variety of our national history and culture. To those who are seeking creative ways and means of promoting secularism. It established that there are hundreds of modes of integration waiting to be discovered." (V. Monterio, The Economic Times, 1 April 1992)