Lauded as one of India's greatest artists, Tyeb Mehta created works that are highly sought after by collectors of Modern Indian Art. Adding to their uniqueness is the fact that the artist was a thorough purist who intensely self-critiqued his work and continued with a canvas till he was completely satisfied with it. Consequently, he did not create a very large oeuvre which makes his artworks a truly prized possession for seasoned collectors. AstaGuru’s upcoming Modern Indian Art Auction is headlined by two important artworks created by Tyeb Mehta that are appearing in an auction for the first time. Coming from two disparate phases of the artist’s career, both the works are symbolic of his artistic practice.
The work titled ‘Diagonal’ (lot no. 35) comes from the series which is considered to be a defining moment in the artist’s practice. It marked his shift in style and transformed his artistic approach from hitherto expressionist works. With the Diagonal series, he adopted a completely fresh style of large solid-coloured uneven shapes and also started to work with a flat perspective. The Diagonal became a tool for him to define space and segment his canvases. It became a catalyst for him to find a truly unique visual idiom that he had arrived at after varied influences. While living in London from 1959-1964, he was dedicated to creating expressionist works. Eventually when he visited the US in 1968 as a Rockefeller Foundation scholar, he came in contact with the work of minimalist artists such as Barnett Newman.
"My encounter with minimalist art was a revelation. Let's say there must have been a point of saturation in my work before I went to New York, which my confrontation with the contemporary art scene brought to the surface. I was open to new ideas. About the same time, I became interested in using pure colour. Normally brush marks suggest areas of directions. I wanted to avoid all this to bring elements down to such a minimal level that the image alone would be sufficient to speak for itself," the artist said about his artistic metamorphosis in a 2005 interview.
The ‘Figure With Bird,’ (Lot No.14) was created after another important juncture – his stay at the Vishva Bharati University in Santi Niketan. His stay there was a major factor for further influence. The work can be seen as an interpretation of Tyeb Mehta’s visual vocabulary expressed through the motif of the bird. The imagery of the bird evokes a sense of exasperation, providing an insight into the anguishing experiences and memories that became the foundation of Mehta’s artistic inspiration. It also showcases the artist’s commitment to accomplishing the form he envisioned for his canvases.
Born in Gujarat in 1925, Tyeb Mehta grew up in Mumbai and joined the J.J. School of Art in 1947. At the institution, he met F N Souza and M F Husain, members of the Progressive Artists Group. After a brief stint in Paris in 1954, Mehta started his career with works inspired by European art. He then moved on to creating works symbolizing ordinary life. While he never abandoned figurative work, his artistic idiom continued to expand.
Featuring over 40 lots, the stellar collection of AstaGuru’s upcoming Modern Indian Art Auction will showcase the Avant-Garde works of eminent Indian modernists. Several rare and unseen artworks are appearing for the first time in an auction scheduled to take place on December 27-28, 2021.
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