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Tyeb Mehta, record-setting Indian Painter, dies
The New York Times described him as “one of the most celebrated of India’s Modernist painters, whose work broke auction records...” On a more personal level, a fellow painter, Vrundavan Solanki told the Times of India, “Mehta was a very humble and simple man…he worked silently in the world of painting but had a huge impact.”
The artist in his studio
Mehta died Wednesday at the Asian Heart Institute Hospital in Mumbai at the age of 84. His health had been failing for the past two years, according to his friends. He is survived by his wife, children, and grand-children.
The artist is credited for bringing recognition to the Contemporary Indian Art largely due to the record-setting sale at Christie’s in 2005. The Painting, Mahisasura, sold for $1.58 million, marking the first time a Contemporary Indian work was sold for over a million. Later, another painting of his would sell for around $2 million.
Confident, painted in 1962, sold for $2 million at Christie's
Despite the sudden fame, the artist never worked from commission as he frowned upon the association between money and art. In fact he continued to work steadily and quietly. His aesthetics seem deeply rooted by his early-life experiences, when he entered the Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai in 1947, the pivotal year when India declared independence from England and the partition between India and Pakistan was enforced. He witnessed many haunting cruelties, such as a man being lynched by a mob; by 1952, when he left the school, his motif had been established: “falling human figures , bulls trussed for slaughter and the buffalo demon being crushed by an all-powerful divinity.”
He went on to receive many prestigious awards including the Padma Bhushan by the President of India, and the Dayawati Modi Foundation Award for Art, Culture and Education.
He is most comfortable as a recluse painter, however. “I have always been a loner, and am quite still a bit of a recluse. My happiest moments are spent with myself and my art,” the artist said.
The artist in his studio
Mehta died Wednesday at the Asian Heart Institute Hospital in Mumbai at the age of 84. His health had been failing for the past two years, according to his friends. He is survived by his wife, children, and grand-children.
The artist is credited for bringing recognition to the Contemporary Indian Art largely due to the record-setting sale at Christie’s in 2005. The Painting, Mahisasura, sold for $1.58 million, marking the first time a Contemporary Indian work was sold for over a million. Later, another painting of his would sell for around $2 million.
Confident, painted in 1962, sold for $2 million at Christie's
Despite the sudden fame, the artist never worked from commission as he frowned upon the association between money and art. In fact he continued to work steadily and quietly. His aesthetics seem deeply rooted by his early-life experiences, when he entered the Sir J.J. School of Art in Mumbai in 1947, the pivotal year when India declared independence from England and the partition between India and Pakistan was enforced. He witnessed many haunting cruelties, such as a man being lynched by a mob; by 1952, when he left the school, his motif had been established: “falling human figures , bulls trussed for slaughter and the buffalo demon being crushed by an all-powerful divinity.”
He went on to receive many prestigious awards including the Padma Bhushan by the President of India, and the Dayawati Modi Foundation Award for Art, Culture and Education.
He is most comfortable as a recluse painter, however. “I have always been a loner, and am quite still a bit of a recluse. My happiest moments are spent with myself and my art,” the artist said.
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