Tyeb Mehta "India's Pride"

Tyeb Mehta was born in Gujrat in 1925 and spent his earlier years working as a film editor in a cinema laboratory.

His deep interest in arts & painting, however, took him to the Sir J.J. School of Art from where he received his diploma in 1952.

A close friend of the Progressive Artists Group with considerable stylistic affiliation he left for London where he lived and worked between 1959 and 1964. He visited USA on a Rockefeller Fellowship in 1968. His film Koodal, a powerful depiction of the ordinary man's dilemma won the Film fare Critic's Award in 1970.

As an artist residing in Santiniketan between 1984-85, he returned to Mumbai with significant transformation in his work.

Exhibitions

Apart from several solo exhibitions, Mehta has also participated in international shows.

International Platforms

Ten Contemporary Indian Painters at Trenton in the U.S. in 1965 Deuxieme Biennial Internationale de Menton, 1974 Festival Intemationale de la Peinture, Cagnes- -Sur-Mer, France 1974 Modem Indian Paintings at Hirschhom Museum, Washington 1982 Seven Indian Painters at Gallerie Le Monde de U art, Paris 1994.


Mehta's pre-occupation with formalist means of expression have led to matt surfaces, broken with diagonals and imagery which while expressing a deep anguish is specifically painterly. In recent years, there has been a vivid articulation of mythological figures like Kali in a mode mist, symbolic manner. Increasingly, his work uses imagery which is ancient yet powerfully modern.


Records on Tyeb Mehta's Name

Tyeb Mehta holds the record for the highest prices at which Indian paintings have ever been sold which aptly makes him India's pride.

In May 2005, his painting "Kali" sold for 10 million Indian rupees (approximately equal to 230,000 US dollars) at Indian auction house Saffronart's online auction.

A reinterpretation of the tale of "Mahishasura" by Mehta showing Durga locked in an embrace with Mahisha sold for $1.584 million.

In December 2005, Mehta's painting "Gesture" was sold for 31 million Indian rupees to Ranjit Malkani, chairman of Kuomi Travel, at the Osian’s auction. This makes it the highest price paid by an Indian for Indian contemporary art at an auction in India.

Awards Bestowed on Tyeb Mehta

He was awarded the Kalidas Samman by the Madhya Pradesh Government in 1988. He also received Padma Bhushan award in 2007.

Mehta is alive and works in Mumbai, India.