Tyeb Mehta
Encyclopedia
Tayyabb Mehta was a noted India
n painter
. He was part of the noted Bombay Progressive Artists' Group
, which included greats like F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza
and M.F. Hussain, and the first post-colonial generation of artists in India, like John Wilkins who also broke free from the nationalist Bengal school and embraced Modernism
instead, with its Post-Impressionist colors, Cubist forms and brusque, Expressionistic styles.
Among his most noted later paintings were his triptych
Celebration
, which when sold for Rs 1.5 crore ($317,500) at a Christie
’s auction in 2002, was not only the highest sum for an Indian painting at an international auction, but also triggered the subsequent great Indian art boom; his other noted works were the 'Diagonal Series', Santiniketan triptych series, Kali
, Mahishasura (1996). He stayed and worked in Mumbai
for much of his life, except for three spells at London, New York, and Santiniketan
, each having a distinct impact upon his work. He received several awards during his career including the Padma Bhushan
by Govt. of India in 2007.
, a town of Kheda district
, the Indian state of Gujarat. He was brought up in the Crawford Market
neighborhood of Mumbai, populated by Dawoodi Bohras. At 22 years, during the partition
riots of 1947 in Mumbai, while staying at Lehri House, Mohammed Ali Road, he witnessed a man being stoned to death by a mob, this he not only expressed in a drawing but it was to have lasting impact on his work, leading to stark and often disturbing depiction of his subjects.
For a while initially, he worked as a film editor in a cinema laboratory at Famous Studios, in Tardeo
, Mumbai. Later, he received his diploma from Sir J.J. School of Art in 1952, and was part of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group
, which drew stylistic inspiration from Western Modernism
, and included greats of Indian paintings such as F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza
and M.F. Husain.
He made a three minute film, Koodal (Tamil
for 'meeting place'), which he shot at the Bandra slaughter house, it won the Filmfare Critics Award
in 1970.
He also remained an Artist-in-Residence at the Santiniketan
between 1984–85, and returned to Mumbai with significant changes in his work. Common themes of his works were trussed bulls, the rickshaw puller, from here he moved to the 'Diagonal series', which he created through the 1970s, after accidentally discovering it in 1969, when in a moment of creative frustration he flung a black streak across his canvas. Later in life, he added 'Falling Figures', and several mythological figures into his work, highlighted by the depictions of goddess Kali
and demon Mahishasura
.
Tayyab Mehta held the then record for the highest price an Indian painting
has ever sold for at auction ($317,500 USD or 15 million Indian rupee
s) for Celebration
at Christie's
in 2002.
In May 2005, his painting Kali
sold for 10 million Indian rupee
s (approximately equal to 230,000 US dollars) at Indian auction house Saffronart
's online auction.
A reinterpretation of the tale of demon Mahishasura by Mehta showing goddess Durga
locked in an embrace with the demon sold for $1.584 million.
In 2008 one of his paintings sold for $2 million.
In December 2005, Mehta's painting Gesture was sold for 31 million Indian rupees to Ranjit Malkani, chairman of Kuomi Travel, at the Osian’s auction. This makes it the highest price ever paid by an Indian for a work of Indian contemporary art at auction in India.
Mehta's were the first works by a contemporary Indian artist to sell for over a million dollars, and indicated a burgeoning interest in Indian art by the international market; as a result, Mehta became a cultural hero.
. He died on 2 July 2009 at a Mumbai hospital following a heart attack
. He is survived by his wife, Sakina, their son, Yusuf, and daughter, Himani and a number of grandchildren.
, France, the Kalidas Samman
, instituted by the Madhya Pradesh
Government, in 1988, the Dayawati Modi Foundation Award for Art, Culture, and Education in 2005, and the Padma Bhushan
in 2007. His film ‘Koodal’ was awarded the Filmfare Critics' Award in 1970.
Mehta's work has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, England, and the Hirshhorn Museum. A career retrospective is scheduled for later 2009 at the National Gallery of Modern Art
, in New Delhi
.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. He was part of the noted Bombay Progressive Artists' Group
Bombay Progressive Artists' Group
The Bombay Progressive Artists' Group was the most influential group of modern artists in India from its formation in 1947, they combined Indian subject matter with Post-Impressionist colours, Cubist forms and brusque, Expressionistic styles....
, which included greats like F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza
S.H. Raza
Syed Haider Raza Alias S.H. Raza is an eminent Indian artist who has lived and worked in France since 1950, but maintains strong ties with India....
and M.F. Hussain, and the first post-colonial generation of artists in India, like John Wilkins who also broke free from the nationalist Bengal school and embraced Modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
instead, with its Post-Impressionist colors, Cubist forms and brusque, Expressionistic styles.
Among his most noted later paintings were his triptych
Triptych
A triptych , from tri-= "three" + ptysso= "to fold") is a work of art which is divided into three sections, or three carved panels which are hinged together and can be folded shut or displayed open. It is therefore a type of polyptych, the term for all multi-panel works...
Celebration
Celebration (painting)
Celebration is a triptych painting by Tyeb Mehta. It sold at Christie's for 15 million Indian rupees in 2002 , the highest price a contemporary Indian piece of art has ever sold for in a public auction ....
, which when sold for Rs 1.5 crore ($317,500) at a Christie
Christie
Christie can refer to:* Christie * Christie's, the auction house* Christie, California, in Contra Costa County* Christie, the Canadian division of Nabisco* Christie , subway station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
’s auction in 2002, was not only the highest sum for an Indian painting at an international auction, but also triggered the subsequent great Indian art boom; his other noted works were the 'Diagonal Series', Santiniketan triptych series, Kali
Kali (painting)
Kali is a painting by Indian artist Tyeb Mehta depicting the Hindu goddess Kali with a gouged mouth. Painted in 1997, the work was sold in May 2005 for 10 million Indian rupees at Indian auction house Saffronart's online auction. According to the Times of India, it is a "dramatic, disturbing...
, Mahishasura (1996). He stayed and worked in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
for much of his life, except for three spells at London, New York, and Santiniketan
Santiniketan
Santiniketan is a small town near Bolpur in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, India, approximately 180 kilometres north of Kolkata . It was made famous by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, whose vision became what is now a university town that attracts thousands of visitors each year...
, each having a distinct impact upon his work. He received several awards during his career including the Padma Bhushan
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
by Govt. of India in 2007.
Early life and education
Tayyab Mehta was born in KapadvanjKapadvanj
Kapadvanj is a city and a municipality in Kheda district in the Indian state of Gujarat.The city has colleges of science, arts, commerce, BCA, PTC and pharmacy.-Geography:...
, a town of Kheda district
Kheda district
Kheda district is one of the 26 districts of Gujarat state in western India. Kheda city is the administrative headquarters of the district.-History:...
, the Indian state of Gujarat. He was brought up in the Crawford Market
Crawford Market
Crawford Market is one of South Mumbai's most famous markets. It is named after Arthur Crawford, the first Municipal Commissioner of the city. The Market was later named after Mahatma Jotirao Phule after a long struggle by the President of Mahatma Phule Smarak Samiti, Mukundraoji Bhujbal Patil...
neighborhood of Mumbai, populated by Dawoodi Bohras. At 22 years, during the partition
Partition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
riots of 1947 in Mumbai, while staying at Lehri House, Mohammed Ali Road, he witnessed a man being stoned to death by a mob, this he not only expressed in a drawing but it was to have lasting impact on his work, leading to stark and often disturbing depiction of his subjects.
For a while initially, he worked as a film editor in a cinema laboratory at Famous Studios, in Tardeo
Tardeo
Tardeo or Tardeo Road is a residential and commercial locality of South Mumbai, from Nana Chowk to Haji Ali Junction...
, Mumbai. Later, he received his diploma from Sir J.J. School of Art in 1952, and was part of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group
Bombay Progressive Artists' Group
The Bombay Progressive Artists' Group was the most influential group of modern artists in India from its formation in 1947, they combined Indian subject matter with Post-Impressionist colours, Cubist forms and brusque, Expressionistic styles....
, which drew stylistic inspiration from Western Modernism
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
, and included greats of Indian paintings such as F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza
S.H. Raza
Syed Haider Raza Alias S.H. Raza is an eminent Indian artist who has lived and worked in France since 1950, but maintains strong ties with India....
and M.F. Husain.
Career
He left for London in 1959, where he worked and lived till 1964. Thereafter, he visited the New York, US, when he was awarded the Rockefeller Fellowship in 1968. During the years the artist spent in London, Mehta’s style was influenced by the expressionist works of Francis Bacon, but while in New York his work came to be characterized by minimalism.He made a three minute film, Koodal (Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
for 'meeting place'), which he shot at the Bandra slaughter house, it won the Filmfare Critics Award
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are presented annually by The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Hindi language film industry of India. The Filmfare ceremony is one of the oldest and most prominent film events given for Hindi films in India. The awards were...
in 1970.
He also remained an Artist-in-Residence at the Santiniketan
Santiniketan
Santiniketan is a small town near Bolpur in the Birbhum district of West Bengal, India, approximately 180 kilometres north of Kolkata . It was made famous by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore, whose vision became what is now a university town that attracts thousands of visitors each year...
between 1984–85, and returned to Mumbai with significant changes in his work. Common themes of his works were trussed bulls, the rickshaw puller, from here he moved to the 'Diagonal series', which he created through the 1970s, after accidentally discovering it in 1969, when in a moment of creative frustration he flung a black streak across his canvas. Later in life, he added 'Falling Figures', and several mythological figures into his work, highlighted by the depictions of goddess Kali
Kali
' , also known as ' , is the Hindu goddess associated with power, shakti. The name Kali comes from kāla, which means black, time, death, lord of death, Shiva. Kali means "the black one". Since Shiva is called Kāla - the eternal time, Kālī, his consort, also means "Time" or "Death" . Hence, Kāli is...
and demon Mahishasura
Mahishasura
In Hindu mythology, Mahishasura was an asura.Mahishasura's father Rambha was king of the asuras, and he once fell in love with a water buffalo ; Mahishasura was born out of this union...
.
Tayyab Mehta held the then record for the highest price an Indian painting
Indian painting
Indian painting has a very long history, although the seasonally humid Indian climate was difficult for the long-term preservation of paintings and there are far fewer survivals than of other forms of Indian art. The earliest Indian paintings were the rock paintings of pre-historic times, the...
has ever sold for at auction ($317,500 USD or 15 million Indian rupee
Indian rupee
The Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....
s) for Celebration
Celebration (painting)
Celebration is a triptych painting by Tyeb Mehta. It sold at Christie's for 15 million Indian rupees in 2002 , the highest price a contemporary Indian piece of art has ever sold for in a public auction ....
at Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
in 2002.
In May 2005, his painting Kali
Kali (painting)
Kali is a painting by Indian artist Tyeb Mehta depicting the Hindu goddess Kali with a gouged mouth. Painted in 1997, the work was sold in May 2005 for 10 million Indian rupees at Indian auction house Saffronart's online auction. According to the Times of India, it is a "dramatic, disturbing...
sold for 10 million Indian rupee
Indian rupee
The Indian rupee is the official currency of the Republic of India. The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India....
s (approximately equal to 230,000 US dollars) at Indian auction house Saffronart
Saffronart
Saffronart is a Mumbai based auction house specializing in Indian art that was founded in 2000. They have galleries in Mumbai, New York, and London, though they are most well known for their online art auctions, which have been the subject of a case study by Harvard Business School. One auction in...
's online auction.
A reinterpretation of the tale of demon Mahishasura by Mehta showing goddess Durga
Durga
For the 1985 Hindi Film of Rajesh Khanna see DurgaaIn Hinduism, Durga ; ; meaning "the inaccessible" or "the invincible"; , durga) or Maa Durga "one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress" is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having eighteen arms, riding a lion...
locked in an embrace with the demon sold for $1.584 million.
In 2008 one of his paintings sold for $2 million.
In December 2005, Mehta's painting Gesture was sold for 31 million Indian rupees to Ranjit Malkani, chairman of Kuomi Travel, at the Osian’s auction. This makes it the highest price ever paid by an Indian for a work of Indian contemporary art at auction in India.
Mehta's were the first works by a contemporary Indian artist to sell for over a million dollars, and indicated a burgeoning interest in Indian art by the international market; as a result, Mehta became a cultural hero.
Personal life
Tayyab Mehta spent most of life in Mumbai and later in life stayed at Lokhandwala, MumbaiMumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. He died on 2 July 2009 at a Mumbai hospital following a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
. He is survived by his wife, Sakina, their son, Yusuf, and daughter, Himani and a number of grandchildren.
Awards
He received the Rockefeller Fellowship in 1968, also in the same year, a gold medal for painting at the first Triennial in New Delhi, and in 1974 the Prix Nationale at the International Festival of Painting in Cagnes-sur-MerCagnes-sur-Mer
Cagnes-sur-Mer is a commune of the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France.-Geography:It is the largest suburb of the city of Nice and lies to the west-southwest of it, about from the center.-History:...
, France, the Kalidas Samman
Kalidas samman
The Kalidas Samman is a prestigious arts award presented annually by the government of Madhya Pradesh in India. The award is named after Kālidāsa, a renowned Classical Sanskrit writer of ancient India, widely regarded as the greatest poet and dramatist in the Sanskrit language.The Kalidas Samman...
, instituted by the Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....
Government, in 1988, the Dayawati Modi Foundation Award for Art, Culture, and Education in 2005, and the Padma Bhushan
Padma Bhushan
The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.-History:...
in 2007. His film ‘Koodal’ was awarded the Filmfare Critics' Award in 1970.
Mehta's work has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, England, and the Hirshhorn Museum. A career retrospective is scheduled for later 2009 at the National Gallery of Modern Art
National Gallery of Modern Art
The National Gallery of Modern Art is the leading Indian art gallery. The main museum at New Delhi was established on March 29, 1954 by the Government of India, with subsequent branches at Mumbai and Bangalore...
, in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
.
Further reading
- Tyeb Mehta, by Georgina and Ulli Beier. Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies, 1977.
- Svaraj: a journey with Tyeb Mehta's "Shantiniketan triptych", by Ramchandra GandhiRamchandra GandhiRamchandra Gandhi was an Indian philosopher student of Peter Strawson and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and Rajaji, the last Governor General of India...
. Vadehra Art Gallery, 2002. ISBN 8187737026.