Tyeb Mehta

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Indian painter, sculptor and film maker

title: "Tyeb Mehta" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["dawoodi-bohra-people", "indian-ismailis", "indian-male-painters", "sir-jamsetjee-jeejebhoy-school-of-art-alumni", "indian-expressionist-painters", "rockefeller-foundation-people", "recipients-of-the-padma-bhushan-in-arts", "people-associated-with-santiniketan", "1925-births", "2009-deaths", "muslim-artists", "people-from-kheda-district", "20th-century-indian-painters", "painters-from-gujarat"] description: "Indian painter, sculptor and film maker" topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyeb_Mehta" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Indian painter, sculptor and film maker ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox artist"]

FieldValue
nameTyeb Mehta
imageTyeb Mehta.jpg
image_size280px
birth_date{{birth date
26}}{{cite weburl
birth_placeKapadvanj, Gujarat, India
death_date
death_placeMumbai, India
nationalityIndian
fieldPainting
trainingSir J.J. School of Art (1952)
worksCelebration
Kali
awardsKalidas Samman (1988)
Padma Bhushan (2007)
::

| name = Tyeb Mehta | image =Tyeb Mehta.jpg | image_size =280px | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1925|07 |26}} | birth_place = Kapadvanj, Gujarat, India | death_date = | death_place = Mumbai, India | nationality = Indian | field = Painting | training = Sir J.J. School of Art (1952) | works = Celebration Kali | awards = Kalidas Samman (1988) Padma Bhushan (2007) Tyeb Mehta (26 July 1925 – 2 July 2009) was an Indian painter, sculptor and film maker. He was part of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group and the first post-colonial generation of artists in India, like John Wilkins who also broke free from the nationalist Bengal school and embraced Modernism instead, with its Post-Impressionist colours, cubist forms and brusque, expressionistic styles.

Among his most noted later paintings were his triptych Celebration, which when sold for Rs 15 million ($317,500) at a Christie's auction in 2002, was not only the highest sum for an Indian painting at an international auction, but also triggered the subsequent great Indian art boom; his other noted works were the 'Diagonal Series', Santiniketan triptych series, Kali, Mahishasura (1996). He stayed and worked in Mumbai for much of his life, except for three spells at London, New York, and Santiniketan, each having a distinct impact upon his work. He received several awards during his career including the Padma Bhushan in 2007.

Early life and education

Tyeb Mehta was born on 26 July 1925 in Kapadvanj, a town of Kheda district, the Indian state of Gujarat. He was brought up in the Crawford Market neighbourhood of Mumbai, populated by Dawoodi Bohras. At 22 years, during the partition riots of 1947 in Mumbai, while staying at Lehri House, Mohammed Ali Road, he witnessed a man being stoned to death by a mob, this he not only expressed in a drawing but it was to have lasting impact on his work, leading to stark and often disturbing depiction of his subjects.

For a while initially, he worked as a film editor in a cinema laboratory at Famous Studios, in Tardeo, Mumbai. Later, he received his diploma from Sir J. J. School of Art in 1952, and was part of the Bombay Progressive Artists' Group, which drew stylistic inspiration from Western Modernism, and included greats of Indian paintings such as F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza and M.F. Husain.

Career

He left for London in 1959, where he worked and lived till 1964. Thereafter, he visited the New York City, when he was awarded a fellowship from the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fund in 1968. During the years the artist spent in London, Mehta's style was influenced by the expressionist works of Francis Bacon, but while in New York his work came to be characterised by minimalism. He made a three-minute film, Koodal (Tamil for 'meeting place'), which he shot at the Bandra slaughter house, it won the Filmfare Critics Award in 1970. He also remained an Artist-in-Residence at the Santiniketan between 1984–85, and returned to Mumbai with significant changes in his work. Common themes of his works were trussed bulls, the rickshaw puller, from here he moved to the Diagonal series, which he created through the 1970s, after accidentally discovering it in 1969, when in a moment of creative frustration he flung a black streak across his canvas. Besides adding several mythological figures into his work, highlighted by the depictions of goddess Kali and demon Mahishasura.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Mahishasura_by_Tyeb_Mehta.jpg" caption="''Mahishasura'' by Tyeb Mehta, 1997"] ::

Tyeb Mehta held the then record for the highest price an Indian painting has ever sold for at auction ($317,500 USD or 15 million Indian rupees) for Celebration at Christie's in 2002.{{cite news |last = Rajamani |first = Radhika |url = http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/01/22/stories/2003012200460100.htm |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030422114337/http://hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/01/22/stories/2003012200460100.htm |url-status = usurped |archive-date = 22 April 2003 |title = Artist for all times |work = The Hindu |date = 23 January 2003 |access-date = 17 June 2006 |url = https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Tyeb-Mehtas-Kali-fetches-Rs-1-crore/articleshow/1116251.cms |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110713025918/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2005-05-20/india/27858455_1_saffronart-tyeb-mehta-painting |url-status = live |archive-date = 13 July 2011 |work = The Times of India |title = Tyeb Metha's Kali fetches Rs 1 crore |date = 20 May 2005 |last = Sengupta |first = Somini |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/24/arts/design/24tyeb.html?ex=1295758800&en=50eb5eb53269a7ea&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss |title = Indian Artist Enjoys His World Audience |work = New York Times |date = 26 January 2006 |access-date = 17 June 2006 |url = https://www.rediff.com/money/2005/sep/22look.htm |title = Tyeb Mehta painting fetches $1.54 million |work = Rediff.com |date = 22 September 2005 |access-date = 17 June 2006 |url = https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/04/arts/04mehta.html |title = Tyeb Mehta, Painter of Emerging India, Dies at 84 |work = New York Times |date = 4 July 2009 |access-date = 23 July 2009 | first=Holland | last=Cotter

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. That made it the highest price ever paid by an Indian for a work of Indian contemporary art at auction in India at the time.{{cite news |url = https://www.rediff.com/news/2005/dec/05tyeb.htm |title = Tyeb Mehta painting sold for Rs. 3.1 crore |work = Rediff.com |date = 5 December 2005 |access-date = 17 June 2006

Mehta's were the first works by a contemporary Indian artist to sell for over a million dollars, and indicated a burgeoning interest in Indian art by the international market; as a result, Mehta became a cultural hero.

Personal life

Tyeb Mehta spent most of life in Mumbai and later in life stayed at Lokhandwala, Mumbai. He died on 2 July 2009 at a Mumbai hospital following a heart attack. He is survived by his wife, Sakina, their son, Yusuf, and daughter, Himani and a number of grandchildren.

Awards

He received a fellowship from the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fund in 1968, also in the same year, a gold medal for paintings at the first Triennial in New Delhi, and in 1974 the Prix Nationale at the International Festival of Painting in Cagnes-sur-Mer,

Mehta's work has been exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, England, and the Hirshhorn Museum. A career retrospective is scheduled for later 2009 at the National Gallery of Modern Art, in New Delhi.

Bibliography

  • Tyeb Mehta: Ideas Images Exchanges, by Tyeb Mehta, Ranjit Hoskote, Roshan Shahani. Publisher: Vadehra Art Gallery, 2008. .

References

References

  1. "Tyeb Mehta".
  2. (2 July 2009). "Noted artist Tayyb Mehta dies". [[The Times of India]].
  3. Nair, Manoj. (2009-07-03). "Tyeb Mehta, who weaved metaphor into images passes away". The Economic Times.
  4. [https://web.archive.org/web/20180808204421/https://in.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idINIndia-40764420090702 Artist Tyeb Mehta dies after long illness] [[Reuters]], 2 July 2009.
  5. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110811142203/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-07-03/india/28178801_1_tyeb-mehta-koodal-rickshaw-puller Tyeb Mehta stood for hope over hype] Nina Martyris, [[Times of India]], 3 July 2009.
  6. [https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ET-Cetera/Artist-Tyeb-Mehta-passes-away/articleshow/4730972.cms Tyeb Mehta, who weaved metaphor into images passes away] [[The Economic Times]], 3 July 2009.
  7. [http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/tyeb-mehta-was-indias-most-expensive-living-artist-also-its-finest/362810/ Tyeb Mehta was India’s most expensive living artist, also its finest] Kishore Singh, [[Business Standard]], 3 July 2009.
  8. (1996). "Mehta, Tyeb {{!}} Grove Art".
  9. ''Svaraj: a journey with Tyeb Mehta's "Shantiniketan triptych"''. by [[Ramchandra Gandhi]]. Vadehra Art Gallery, 2002. {{ISBN. 81-87737-02-6. ''Page 60''
  10. [https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/I-dont-paint-for-money-Tyeb-Mehta/articleshow/4654123.cms 'I don't paint for money'] [[The Times of India]], 14 June 2009.
  11. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121024054216/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2002-09-20/news-interviews/27324810_1_tyeb-mehta-filmfare-critic-s-award-film-editor Tyeb Mehta: From filmmaker to painter] [[The Times of India]], 20 September 2002.
  12. Tully, Judd. "{{usurped
  13. link. (9 July 2009 Press Trust of India, [[The Statesman (India)). The Statesman]], 2 July 2009.
  14. (28 May 2005). "Bull run in art bazaar". [[Deccan Herald]].
  15. link. (9 July 2009 ''[[Hindustan Times]]''. Retrieved on 3 July 2009.)
  16. (4 July 2009). "Tyeb Mehta, Painter of Emerging India, Dies at 84". The New York Times.

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dawoodi-bohra-peopleindian-ismailisindian-male-painterssir-jamsetjee-jeejebhoy-school-of-art-alumniindian-expressionist-paintersrockefeller-foundation-peoplerecipients-of-the-padma-bhushan-in-artspeople-associated-with-santiniketan1925-births2009-deathsmuslim-artistspeople-from-kheda-district20th-century-indian-painterspainters-from-gujarat