A day in the life of Indian art: two case studies!
I
High art: Sabavala’s Vespers I
Jehangir Sabavala
A stunning image by one of India’s foremost modern artists Jehangir Sabavala sold for a record 253,650 pounds to lead a strong selection of works by major South Asian artists at the Bonhams annual summer sale of Modern and Contemporary South Asian art on Thursday.
Sabavala’s piece of art Vespers I had been estimated to sell for 100,000-150,000 pounds but after a saleroom tussle between two buyers, it was knocked down for a massive 253,650 pounds – a world record for an Indian at Bonhams.
Illustrated on the cover of his monograph by Ranjit Hoskote, ‘The Crucible of Painting: The Art of Jehangir Sabavala, Vespers I’ is one of Sabavala’s most important works, representing a key period of transition in the artist’s oeuvre. It was first exhibited at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai and then at his solo exhibition at the Commonwealth Institute, London.
“Sabavala had a lifelong fascination with monastic life, and the figures of the monk and the hermit are central to his work. Indeed, he often compared his long, solitary and disciplined hours of work in the studio with a monk’s routine of study, prayer, retreat and meditation,” says Hoskote, an independent curator who was responsible for the Indian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2011.
Sabavala's 'Vespers I'
Mehreeen Rizvi, Head of Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art at Bonhams commenting after the sale, said, “We are delighted with this result for Sabavala. It is about time this artist achieved commercial success in the art market to mirror his artistic reputation”.
The sale also included works by well-known Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan artists such as MF Husain, Jamini Roy, B Prabha, Sadequain, Jamil Naqsh and AR Chughtai and Gulgee sourced from private collections in Europe and the US. The second highest price achieved in the sale was a work by Husain titled ‘The Blue Lady’ which made 97,250 pounds against a pre-sale estimate of 70,000-90,000 pounds.
It was from the private UK collection of John Hay, having been presented to Hay’s mother Elizabeth Partridge by her sister as a wedding present in India.
The auction also presented the largest group of works by Pakistani masters to ever come under the hammer at an international auction. Gulgee’s 1965 work titled Buzkashi (15,000-25,000 pounds), which depicts Afghanistan’s national sport, was one of the highlights of this section, more than doubling its upper estimate to make 61,250 pounds.
Although better known for his calligraphic compositions during the 1950s and 60′s, Gulgee was the national portrait painter of Pakistan and was commissioned to paint the portraits of many figures of the Islamic world, including the Saudi Royal family.
[Courtesy: BBC]
II
Just art: street artists from Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh
Portrait at Sukhna Lake I
Parched, dry Sukhna Lake may be a disappointment to visitors this summer, but over a dozen artists are making pencil sketches of people and providing them unique memoirs. Oblivious of noise and admiring eyes, these experienced, professional and amateur artists have thronged the vicinity of Sukhna Lake in huge numbers.
Jasbir Singh is among the fourteen artists who are putting life onto canvas. He lost his left eye and paralyzed his left hand during his childhood. However, that did not deter him from pursuing his passion. One finds superb coordination when he commands visitors to keep looking at his left shoulder, while he draws their sketches. Within minutes, he draws a portrait; bringing smiles on the faces of men, women and children.
“I had made a sketch of Film Star Shah Rukh Khan when he was a struggling artist. Then I came back to Patiala and professionally began making sketches. Professor Surinder who used to sit at lake to make portraits asked me to start working from here and I enjoy this work.” says Jasbir Singh.
Portrait at Sukhna Lake II
Singh, with a twinkle in his eyes says that his idols are M.F Hussain and one, Satish Gujral; whom he had met at Triveni Kala Bhawan. Another artist Surya Bhan, Bachelor of Fine Arts from Lucknow University says that he has been visiting Sukhna Lake in order to make pencil portraits of people for a decade now. He asserted that it pained his heart to find the lake in such a pathetic state. He said that on an average it took him nearly fifteen minutes to complete a single sketch and about ten people came to him for the same daily.
Kamlesh Uniyal who hails from Dehradun has also been a regular artist at the Sukhna Lake. He said that he started his work in Kurukshetra but turned to Chandigarh, hoping for a greater response here. Foreign tourists love his work and take pencil sketches created by him, along with his signature to their motherlands, says Uniyal.
Jashan Jot Singh of Mandi Gobindgarh who was here at the Sukhna Lake with his family said that “old is Gold, as pencil sketches are more natural than the pictures produced from Digital Camera’s.” Citing his opinion pertaining to the deteriorating condition of the Sukhna Lake, he said that it was the result of human indifference towards nature.
Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh
Having her roots in Bathinda, Gursharan Kaur who has been a regular visitor of Sukhna Lake opined that “pencil sketches are more original and we should try to keep this dying art alive.”
Kanwal Rup Kaur from Amritsar stated that she had gone in for the pencil portrait since these were wonderful and would act as reminiscence of her unforgettable memories associated with the Sukhna Lake.
[Courtesy: The Indian Express]