In a glittering and elegant function befitting the occasion, Tyeb Mehta’s ‘Mahisasura’ (1997, acrylic on canvas) was unveiled at the MFA in the presence of well known art luminaries, connoisseurs and Boston area  community. This is the first in a series of loans of contemporary South Asian paintings from the Chaudhri Collection, as part of the MFA’s new initiative to exhibit the most outstanding contemporary art from South Asia.  Mahisasura will be on view at the MFA from May 4 through September 9, 2007.The loan of Mahisasura, one of the artist’s best known works, is on loan to the MFA from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Rajiv Jahangir Chaudhri. 

Woodman Taylor, Assistant curator of the South Asian Collection is excited about the response from the Boston community.” We had a wonderful opening day with the presence of local community leaders , the director and the chairs and people came as far as New York for the occasion. Boston community has a terrific appreciation of art  and the energy is high” he said.

How did this all come about? “ It is one of those serendipitous’ happenings". Says Woodman. Payal Chaudhuri had approached the MFA with an offer to display miniature paintings and Woodman asked her “Do you have anything else”. This one question changed everything". enthuse Woodman.” She spoke to me about the Mahisasura and their other collections and I was totally bowled over.We reached an agreement where we have dedicated an alcove for contemporary art from South Asia and will rotate some of the art from their collection”.

The Chaudhri Collection, comprising around 300 works collected over the past fifteen years, is one of the premier collections of contemporary Indian art in the world.  The collection includes masterpieces by most of India’s major artists of the last century, including Raja Ravi Verma, Abanendranath Tagore, Amrita Sher-Gil, Francis Newton Souza, Syed Haider Raza, Maqbool Fida Husain, Krishen Khanna, Ram Kumar, K.H. Ara and Vasudeo Gaitonde. 

Mahisasura

In Mahisasura the artist depicts the Hindu goddess Durga, mounted on her lion, wrestling the buffalo demon Mahisasura. At Mahisasura’s birth, the god Agni decreed that he could not be killed by a male, only by a female; taking advantage of this, Mahisasura attacked the gods, banishing them from their kingdom.  In response, the gods created the frightening yet beautiful Durga to kill Mahisasura.  Entranced by Durga’s beauty, Mahisasura wanted to marry her, but she would only agree if he defeated her in battle.  The battle lasted ten thousand years, until Durga beheaded Mahisasura.  Artists usually show the culmination of the story, when Durga beheads Mahisasura.  Mehta inserts ambiguity into the tale, depicting Durga embracing Mahisasura even as she struggles to vanquish him.

Tyeb Mehta

Tyeb Mehta, was recently awarded the prestigious Padma Bhushan by the Government of India for his outstanding contribution to the field of Indian art.  Mehta was an early member of the Progressive Artists’ Group, founded in Mumbai (formerly Bombay) in 1947, the precise year of India’s independence.  With no overt political agenda, these artists claimed they wanted to “paint with absolute freedom for content and technique, almost anarchic, save that we are governed by one or two sound elemental and eternal laws, of aesthetic order, plastic co-ordination and colour composition.”  The Progressives freely adopted styles and techniques associated with modernist and avant-garde art movements in Europe and North America while simultaneously dipping deep into India’s own artistic traditions.  In doing so, Mehta and other Progressives forged a modernism specific to India.  The Progressive artists are vanguards of an aesthetic that is both South Asian and contemporary, simultaneously exotic and reassuringly familiar.

|