Celebrating the work of Indian modernists

The upcoming cultural calendar features exhibitions to mark the centenary years of three significant artists

- Abhilasha Ojha

In 2002, Tyeb Mehta's triptych Celebration, which drew inspiration from the Charak festival of the Santhals, sold for ₹1.5 crore at Christie's. This set the highest price for an Indian painting for the auction house at the time. Girish Shahane, who was the editor of ART India magazine back in 1998, remembers visiting Mehta's home in Andheri, Mumbai, for a cover story on the artist. It was then that Mehta revealed an interesting story behind Celebration.

The artist, who began his creative journey as a film editor at Famous Studios in Mumbai before graduating from Sir J.J. School of Art in 1952, later became a member of the Progressive Artists' Group. He was commissioned by Times Bank (which later merged with HDFC Bank) to work on the triptych. Every Sunday, the artist would carry the three panels to his neighbour's home when the latter would take his family out on weekend outings. It was only once a week that he saw the work develop in its entirety. The rest of the days, he focused on painting each panel, since there was limited space in his own home.

Shahane has now been roped in by the Tyeb Mehta Foundation and Vadehra Art Gallery, Delhi, for a forthcoming "tribute exhibition" to be held early next year as part of the artist's centennial celebrations. "We will feature works by friends of Tyeb Mehta besides showing works of contemporary artists inspired by him," says Roshini Vadehra, director, Vadehra Art Gallery. Besides showing films and holding discussions on Mehta's artistic practice, a lot of the books on the artist, published by the gallery in the past, will be going into reprint. This includes Tyeb Mehta: Ideas, Images, Exchanges