His was a quiet revolution. At a
time when the ‘progressives’ of India’s
art world were clamouring to claim a
language of their own, the contained,
silent voice of Tyeb Mehta splintered
the canvas of modern Indian art, much
like the diagonals in his paintings. Born
in Kapadvanj, Gujarat in 1925, into
a family whose business was making
films, Tyeb Mehta worked as an editor
for three years prior to enrolling at the
Sir J. J School of Art in Mumbai (then
Bombay) in 1947.
Art came to him by chance when he enrolled at the art school with hopes of becoming an art director. Studying along with contemporaries like Francis Newton Souza, the founding member of the Progressive Group of artists (popularly known as PAG) and Maqbool Fida Hussain, Tyeb Mehta was drawn into a whole new world of colour, form and line. The members of the Progressive Group of artists were the first postcolonial generation of artists in India who actively sought to move away from the western academic model of classicism that was being taught at art colleges as well as the revivalist wave that had appeared with the freedom movement in the country. As a second generation member of the group, any mention of PAG is usually not without the mention of Tyeb Mehta; especially with context to the presence of Modern Indian Masters in the global art Scenario. Although Tyeb Mehta is considered as the harbinger of change for Modern Indian Art; especially post the sale of his triptych Celebration at the 2002 Christie’s auction, the mantle could not have rested with a more reluctant hero. Unconcerned with his rising status or the money that his name could fetch, the artist never catered to market demands or boom periods. He created artworks at his own pace; a testimony to the artist’s exacting standards. Ever since the beginning, Tyeb Mehta was his own harshest critic. He often created and destroyed many complete works before he was satisfied with the output. This process of self censure did not stem from the need to pander to market requirements, but perhaps had more to do with the artist’s lifelong process of learning the craft of image making.
Art historians and critics, who knew Tyeb Mehta will vouch for the artist’s less-is-more approach to life. One can see this approach; of simplicity and starkness, percolating into his artistic practice as well. Tyeb Mehta’s search for a single image, a metaphor to express his experiences of The 1947 Tyeb Mehta, Mahishasura,This poignant image, of a powerful beast being tied up in a state of helplessness, was according to the artist; the ultimate loss of vitality, humanities failure to channelize its energies. This image remained with him till much later, manifesting in stylistically significant later works like the Mahishasura series, especially the Mahishasura, 1996.Often tagged as the ‘Indian [Francis] Bacon’ and compared to Henri Matisse for his technique of colour usage, Tyeb Mehta’s artistic oeuvre speaks a language of its own. Unlike the palpable trauma present in Francis Bacon’s works like the Figure with meat or his other meat paintings that embody the crudity of the act of butchering, Tyeb Mehta’s figures are suffused with a sense of pathos and empathic grief. Undoubtedly, his visits aboard, the first to London and Paris in 1954, the second to London from 1959 to 1964 and the third to New York on a Rockefeller fellowship had significant influence on his method of creation. While studying western masters abroad, Tyeb Mehta witnessed a burgeoning art scenario that permeated his personal visual language with a newness and boldness of form and colour, one that came to be recognized as his mark. The broken, fractured forms, human as well as animal, are often seen arrested in mid-motion, waiting to complete an action whose end seems elusive. This suspended animation that pervades much of Tyeb Mehta’s later works can be presumably linked to his exposure to films from an early age. Captured as moments in time, the austere figures of rickshawallas, falling men and the demon Mahishasura locked in battle with the goddess; to an extent, reflect the stylistic adaptation of the medium of film.
When viewing paintings from Tyeb Mehta’s Diagonal series (1969–76), it is impossible not to draw a parallel between the collective trauma of the 1947 India-Pakistan Partition and the chasm-like mark drawn by the artist on the canvas. The diagonal stroke, running from one corner to the other of the canvas, was incorporated by the artist as a compositional tool. A dynamic element, the diagonal effectively broke the picture plane, further distorting the already fractured forms. This division of form along with the flat application of pure colours compounds the misery of these forms whose shrieks seem to be frozen mid-air. During his artist residency at the Vishwa Bharati University, Santiniketan in 1983, Tyeb Mehta produced a 4.5 meter long triptych titled the Santiniketan Triptych (1984). The painting depicts the Santhal community’s Charak festival where the overall atmosphere seems to be that of festivity and bonhomie. The diagonal element is conspicuously absent with more figures used by the artist for a composition than ever before.
A loner by choice, Tyeb Mehta needed isolation to create his art. He lived his life in a suburban Mumbai apartment and in his studio; with his wife Sakina and son Yusuf. Never the one to use art as means of garnering fame and popularity, Tyeb Mehta’s way of life remained untouched by his rising public persona even post the landmark Christie’s auction of 2002. Although reclusive by nature, Tyeb Mehta was mentor to a whole generation of young Indian artists in the 1990’s and delighted in any benefit that they received owing to his status in the international market.Succumbing to a long battle with failing health, Tyeb Mehta passed away in 2009. He leaves behind a legacy of artistic distinction, of a life which at times was adverse and at times was painful but one that he lived on his own terms. In his pursuit of a simple life, Tyeb Mehta has left behind a legacy that is extraordinary.
By Shabari Choudhury
This article appeared in the 75th issue of Art & Deal Magazine.
Art came to him by chance when he enrolled at the art school with hopes of becoming an art director. Studying along with contemporaries like Francis Newton Souza, the founding member of the Progressive Group of artists (popularly known as PAG) and Maqbool Fida Hussain, Tyeb Mehta was drawn into a whole new world of colour, form and line. The members of the Progressive Group of artists were the first postcolonial generation of artists in India who actively sought to move away from the western academic model of classicism that was being taught at art colleges as well as the revivalist wave that had appeared with the freedom movement in the country. As a second generation member of the group, any mention of PAG is usually not without the mention of Tyeb Mehta; especially with context to the presence of Modern Indian Masters in the global art Scenario. Although Tyeb Mehta is considered as the harbinger of change for Modern Indian Art; especially post the sale of his triptych Celebration at the 2002 Christie’s auction, the mantle could not have rested with a more reluctant hero. Unconcerned with his rising status or the money that his name could fetch, the artist never catered to market demands or boom periods. He created artworks at his own pace; a testimony to the artist’s exacting standards. Ever since the beginning, Tyeb Mehta was his own harshest critic. He often created and destroyed many complete works before he was satisfied with the output. This process of self censure did not stem from the need to pander to market requirements, but perhaps had more to do with the artist’s lifelong process of learning the craft of image making.
Art historians and critics, who knew Tyeb Mehta will vouch for the artist’s less-is-more approach to life. One can see this approach; of simplicity and starkness, percolating into his artistic practice as well. Tyeb Mehta’s search for a single image, a metaphor to express his experiences of The 1947 Tyeb Mehta, Mahishasura,This poignant image, of a powerful beast being tied up in a state of helplessness, was according to the artist; the ultimate loss of vitality, humanities failure to channelize its energies. This image remained with him till much later, manifesting in stylistically significant later works like the Mahishasura series, especially the Mahishasura, 1996.Often tagged as the ‘Indian [Francis] Bacon’ and compared to Henri Matisse for his technique of colour usage, Tyeb Mehta’s artistic oeuvre speaks a language of its own. Unlike the palpable trauma present in Francis Bacon’s works like the Figure with meat or his other meat paintings that embody the crudity of the act of butchering, Tyeb Mehta’s figures are suffused with a sense of pathos and empathic grief. Undoubtedly, his visits aboard, the first to London and Paris in 1954, the second to London from 1959 to 1964 and the third to New York on a Rockefeller fellowship had significant influence on his method of creation. While studying western masters abroad, Tyeb Mehta witnessed a burgeoning art scenario that permeated his personal visual language with a newness and boldness of form and colour, one that came to be recognized as his mark. The broken, fractured forms, human as well as animal, are often seen arrested in mid-motion, waiting to complete an action whose end seems elusive. This suspended animation that pervades much of Tyeb Mehta’s later works can be presumably linked to his exposure to films from an early age. Captured as moments in time, the austere figures of rickshawallas, falling men and the demon Mahishasura locked in battle with the goddess; to an extent, reflect the stylistic adaptation of the medium of film.
When viewing paintings from Tyeb Mehta’s Diagonal series (1969–76), it is impossible not to draw a parallel between the collective trauma of the 1947 India-Pakistan Partition and the chasm-like mark drawn by the artist on the canvas. The diagonal stroke, running from one corner to the other of the canvas, was incorporated by the artist as a compositional tool. A dynamic element, the diagonal effectively broke the picture plane, further distorting the already fractured forms. This division of form along with the flat application of pure colours compounds the misery of these forms whose shrieks seem to be frozen mid-air. During his artist residency at the Vishwa Bharati University, Santiniketan in 1983, Tyeb Mehta produced a 4.5 meter long triptych titled the Santiniketan Triptych (1984). The painting depicts the Santhal community’s Charak festival where the overall atmosphere seems to be that of festivity and bonhomie. The diagonal element is conspicuously absent with more figures used by the artist for a composition than ever before.
A loner by choice, Tyeb Mehta needed isolation to create his art. He lived his life in a suburban Mumbai apartment and in his studio; with his wife Sakina and son Yusuf. Never the one to use art as means of garnering fame and popularity, Tyeb Mehta’s way of life remained untouched by his rising public persona even post the landmark Christie’s auction of 2002. Although reclusive by nature, Tyeb Mehta was mentor to a whole generation of young Indian artists in the 1990’s and delighted in any benefit that they received owing to his status in the international market.Succumbing to a long battle with failing health, Tyeb Mehta passed away in 2009. He leaves behind a legacy of artistic distinction, of a life which at times was adverse and at times was painful but one that he lived on his own terms. In his pursuit of a simple life, Tyeb Mehta has left behind a legacy that is extraordinary.
By Shabari Choudhury
This article appeared in the 75th issue of Art & Deal Magazine.
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