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PROPERTY OF A DISTINGUISHED PARSI LADY, PUNE
12
JEHANGIR SABAVALA
(1922 ‒ 2011)
Untitled
Signed 'Sabavala' (lower right)
Oil on canvas
24 x 19.25 in (61 x 49.2 cm)
Rs 50,00,000 ‒ 70,00,000
$ 79,370 ‒ 111,115
PROVENANCE
Acquired directly from the artist
The present lot is a rare early work by Jehangir Sabavala. Having
spent over ten years as a student at art schools in Europe and
India, Sabavala had mastered the art of the still‒life. Flowers in
vases have been painted by artists through the ages, and yet, like
any true artist, Sabavala makes this ubiquitous subject his own.
The muted palette which resolves the contrasts between pink
and brown, supplemented by green is a colour scheme that is
distinctly his own. Five decades later, one sees the pinks, lighter
and more ethereal, in his
Pilgrim
series of paintings. A few other
still‒lifes which he made in the 1950s have similar compositions
and a focus on exploring the foreground and background, to
expand his understanding of Cubism.
Sabavala was conscious of this deliberate exploration and has
said that he was involved in a “great deal of intellectualising: the
analysis of planes, the passages of light. I became more sure of
how I wanted my paintings fractured and adopted a definite
form, a daring, high‒pitched and high‒keyed palette.” (Artist
quoted in Ranjit Hoskote,
The Crucible of Painting: The Art of
Jehangir Sabavala
, Mumbai: Eminence Designs Pvt. Ltd., 2005,
p. 63) All these elements can be seen in the present lot.
Jehangir Sabavala,
Cannas in Blue Pot
, 1953
Saffronart, 10–11 June 2009, lot 4
Image courtesy of Shirin Sabavala
Jehangir Sabavala,
Leaves a Violin...
, 1950
Saffronart, 10–11 May 2005, lot 25