Jehangir Sabavala (23 August 1922 – 2 September 2011) was an Indian painter.

Early life and education

Jehangir Ardeshir Sabavala was born to an affluent

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

family in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

(now

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

), India. His mother belonged to the aristocratic Cowasjee Jehangir family. He studied at

Cathedral and John Connon School The Cathedral & John Connon School is a co-educational private school founded in 1860 and located in Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra.Elphinstone College Elphinstone College is one of the constituent colleges of Dr. Homi Bhabha State University, a state cluster university. Established in 1823, it is one of the oldest colleges in Mumbai. It played a major role in shaping and developing the ed ...

, and earned a diploma from Mumbai's

Sir J. J. School of Art The Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School of Art (Sir J. J. School of Art) is the oldest art institution in Mumbai, India, and is affiliated with the University of Mumbai. The school grants bachelor's degrees in fine art and sculpture, and Master's de ...

in 1944. Thereafter he went to Europe and studied at the

Heatherley School of Fine Art The Heatherley School of Fine Art is an independent art school in London. The school was named after Thomas Heatherley who took over as the school's principal from James Mathews Leigh (when it was named "Leigh's"). Founded in 1845, the school ...

, London, (1945–47), and in Academie Andre Lhote, Paris (1948–51), the

Académie Julian The Académie Julian () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907) that was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number a ...

(1953–54), and finally at the

Académie de la Grande Chaumière The Académie de la Grande Chaumière is an art school in the Montparnasse district of Paris, France. History The school was founded in 1904 by the Catalan painter Claudio Castelucho on the rue de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, near the Acadé ...

in 1957.

Career

From 1951, he held 31 major solo exhibitions across the subcontinent, and in Europe. In addition, he participated in more than 150 group exhibitions all over the world. His work is in several important private and public collections, such as the National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, Birla Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta, Parliament House, New Delhi, The Punjab Government Museum, Chandigarh, Air India Mumbai, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, and The National Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. Sabavala did not allow archives of his 12 scrapbooks on materials from the early 1940s to the 2000 online. Arun Khopkar's film on Sabavala's life and art, ''Colours of Absence'', won the National Award in 1994. In 2010, another film about his life was made, ''The Inheritance of Light: Jehangir Sabavala''. His last solo exhibition, ''Ricorso'', was held at the Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai, in 2008. In 2010, one of his serene landscapes called ''Casuarina Line'' fetched Rs 17 million at a Saffronart auction. One of his paintings titled ''Vespers 1'', was sold for £253,650 (Rs. 21 million) at a Bonhams sale in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Artistic Inspiration

Awards

Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...

by the Government of India - 1977 * Lalit Kala Ratna, the Fellowship of

Lalit Kala Akademi The Lalit Kala Akademi or National Academy of Art (LKA) is India's national academy of fine arts. It is an autonomous organisation, established in New Delhi in 1954 by Government of India to promote and propagate understanding of Indian art, i ...

, India's National Academy of Arts, by the President of India - 2007

Books on the Artist

Dilip Chitre Dilip Purushottam Chitre (17 September 1938 – 10 December 2009) was one of the foremost Indian poets and critics to emerge in the post Independence India. Apart from being a notable bilingual writer, writing in Marathi and English, he was also ...

, ''The Reasoning Vision: Jehangir Sabavala's Painterly Universe''. (Tata McGraw Hill, Mumbai 1980) *

Ranjit Hoskote Ranjit Hoskote (born 1969) is an Indian poet, art critic, cultural theorist and independent curator. He has been honoured by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, with the Sahitya Akademi Golden Jubilee Award and the Sahitya ...

, ''Pilgrim, Exile, Sorcerer: The Painterly Evolution of Jehangir Sabavala''. (Eminence Designs, Mumbai 1998) * Ranjit Hoskote, ''The Crucible of Painting: The Art of Jehangir Sabavala''. (Eminence Designs/ National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai 2005)

References

External links

Jehangir Sabavala profile
at '' Saffronart'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sabavala, Jehangir Indian male painters Parsi people from Mumbai 1922 births 2011 deaths Artists from Mumbai Elphinstone College alumni Sir Jamsetjee Jeejebhoy School of Art alumni Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts Académie Julian alumni Cathedral and John Connon School alumni 20th-century Indian painters Painters from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian male artists