Important Notice

Lot 8

This work is part of a series that grapples with one of Sabavala`s most recent subjects – the city. In “a tribute to the city that nourished him, Bombay, and another, New York”, Sabavala sought to apply his signature style to a new theme – the cityscape (Amrita Jhaveri, A Guide to 101 Modern & Contemporary Indian Artists, India Book House, Mumbai, 2005, p.80-81). Though his palette remains muted and the canvas meticulously structured as in his... This work is part of a series that grapples with one of Sabavala`s most recent subjects – the city. In “a tribute to the city that nourished him, Bombay, and another, New York”, Sabavala sought to apply his signature style to a new theme – the cityscape (Amrita Jhaveri, A Guide to 101 Modern & Contemporary Indian Artists, India Book House, Mumbai, 2005, p.80-81). Though his palette remains muted and the canvas meticulously structured as in his earlier landscapes, in these urban pieces quiet skyscrapers replace pilgrims and prophets as the central figures, and an almost eerie stillness takes the place of sailing boats and soaring birds.

“Such images of the contemporary city are unprecedented in Sabavala’s oeuvre…the vision of the island-city of Bombay is enriched: cast in interwoven perspectives, the city becomes a mosaic of cellularities, threaded together from sky and cloud, house and sea, sail and thicket” (Ranjit Hoskote, The Crucible of Painting: The Art of Jehangir Sabavala, Eminence Designs Pvt. ltd., 2005, p.171)

Using what Hoskote terms “solar palette” and middle tones to construct geometric wedges or ‘receding planes’ of color, each one textured and illuminated in a unique way, the artist manages to eliminate the hustle and bustle of the city in this work, ceding power and presence instead to the natural environs in which this city grew and by which continues to be nurtured. Each of their facets lit by the sun, the skyscrapers seem to be the only residents in this still and tranquil city, reaching into the golden clouds to welcome the day. Their verticality is emphasized by the lateral bands of land and sky, in a deliberate demarcation of space that has become a hallmark of Sabavala’s style, a studied reworking of the Cubist idiom.

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