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Jehangir Ardeshir Sabavala was born into a distinguished Parsi family in Bombay in 1922. Following a childhood spent travelling the world with his family and his early schooling in Switzerland and India, Sabavala enrolled at Elphinstone College in Bombay to study English Literature. In 1942, he transferred to the Sir J.J. School of Art in Bombay to follow his nascent interest in painting, which was nurtured by the principal Charles Gerrard and talented artists like Dhupeshwarkar and Ahiwasi who taught him anatomy, life drawing, time drawing and other skills that would prove invaluable in his artistic career.
It was only after Sabavala received a diploma in fine arts from the Sir J.J. School of Art in 1944, and the conclusion of the Second World War the following year, that he moved to Europe to further his training in London and Paris.
Dating from 1942 to the early 1950s, the following three lots represent some of the artist's most formative works. The set of drawings and the first watercolour titled The Festival were completed as part of Sabavala's coursework as a student at the Sir J.J. School. The second watercolour, depicting a scene from Matheran, a hill station outside Mumbai that the artist used to visit, underscores the way in which Sabavala drew on his training in Europe to craft a unique vocabulary for himself once he moved back to India. Together, the group also illuminates the divergences in art pedagogy in India and Europe at the time, and the creative ways in which Sabavala addressed and reconciled these differences while honing his artistic vocabulary.
After Sabavala's death in 2011, his wife Shirin and daughter Aafreed set up the Jehangir Sabavala Foundation to honour the artist's memory, safeguard his legacy, and continue to enrich the cultural milieu of his hometown, Mumbai. In addition to hosting an annual memorial lecture on topics close to Sabavala's heart, the Foundation also supports various publications and has recently made a gift to the city's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalay (formerly the Price of Wales Museum) of Sabavala's last few paintings and his extensive archive. Part of this generous bequest, including Sabavala's paintings, sketchbooks and photographs, is currently on view at the museum in the exhibition Unpacking the Studio: Celebrating the Jehangir Sabavala Bequest, curated by his biographer Ranjit Hoskote. The exhibition features similar studies and watercolours by the artist, including another scene from Matheran and a few early works in the experimental oriental style that characterises The Festival.
PROPERTY FROM THE JEHANGIR SABAVALA FOUNDATION
JEHANGIR SABAVALA (1922-2011)
Untitled (Nude); Untitled (Anatomical Study)
細節
JEHANGIR SABAVALA (1922-2011)
Untitled (Nude); Untitled (Anatomical Study)
signed, dated and inscribed 'Sabavala Time Drawing 25th August 1944' (upper left);
signed and dated 'Sabavala July 21st 1942' (lower right, recto)
pencil on paper; charcoal on paper
22½ x 14 5/8 in. (57.2 x 37.1 cm.); 22¾ x 15 3/8 in. (57.8 x 39.1 cm.)
Executed in 1944, 1942; Two works on paper
(2)
Untitled (Nude); Untitled (Anatomical Study)
signed, dated and inscribed 'Sabavala Time Drawing 25th August 1944' (upper left);
signed and dated 'Sabavala July 21st 1942' (lower right, recto)
pencil on paper; charcoal on paper
22½ x 14 5/8 in. (57.2 x 37.1 cm.); 22¾ x 15 3/8 in. (57.8 x 39.1 cm.)
Executed in 1944, 1942; Two works on paper
(2)
來源
From the Collection of the Artist
榮譽呈獻
Umah Jacob