Yamini Mehta, International Head of Indian and South Asian Art at Sotheby’s, talks about her artistic journey and the forthcoming sale in New York. By Uma Nair
Yamini Mehta joined Sotheby’s in 2012 after a 14-year career at Christie’s where she helped to establish the Indian art department in New York in 1998. She was appointed as the Specialist and Head of South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art at Christie’s in June 2005.
In her role, Mehta expanded and oversaw the international sales of South Asian Modern and Contemporary Art in New York, london, Hong Kong and Dubai. She provides trusted advice and serves in the client and business development capacity with Sotheby’s highest echelon of collectors. She is known for sourcing sterling quality works in her career spanning two decades. In Delhi for the Sotheby’s preview , she gives an exclusive interview to Vivacity.
You seem to be commemorating Sayed Haider Raza’s 96th birth anniversary with the magnificent Ville Provencale 1956 work. Tell us about the sourcing of the work that went into grabbing the iconic status for your March auctionIJ
Indeed, it was such a happy coincidence.Ville Provencale was one of the works that came to us from a distinguished French collector. The most important thing that arose was the historic documentational evidence we gathered . While in Paris, Raza achieved great commercial success. Having first exhibited with Padamsee and Souza at Galerie St Placide in 1952, this was followed by a show at GalerieCreuze in 1953. From 1955 to 1971, Raza exhibited exclusively with Galerie lara Vincy. The present work, Ville Provencale, is a bold, large-scale oil painting, made while he worked under the gallery’s patronage.It has echoes of stained glass windows (Souza style) ,the Metascape crimson palette of Akbar Padamsee and the European Expressionists. This was a period in which these three artists in Paris were sharing and feeding off each other’s sensibilities.
How important was the year 1956 for Raza and Indian artIJ A seminal year perhapsIJ
Yes, 1956, was a seminal year for Raza’s career. Raza was awarded the prestigious Prix de la Critique which gave him international recognition and was instrumental in getting him a historic show at the Muséed’ ArtModerne, Paris. Raza was also invited to exhibit at Venice, Brussels and São Paulo Biennales, and to display exhibitions in Tokyo, london, USA and Canada. Compare it to 2017, when India was not there at the Venice Biennale.
Can you describe its magnitude as a blue chip work because your catalogue says price on requestIJ
It is monumental and comes with a rare provenance. It is distinguished by its vivid, primary colours, the semi-abstracted view of Parisian garrets and rooftops rendered on a deep, impasto-heavy background and set against a burnt umber sky, it is the biggest work from the 1950s ever to be offered at auction. From its illustrious beginnings at the renowned Galerie lara Vincy, to its exhibition history at the Venice Biennale, this painting is a masterpiece; not only for crystallising the highly important year of its creation, but also for its function as a testament to the enduring legacy of one of the foremost pioneers of Indian modern art.
You have a series of works belonging to the Bengal Masters. Can you describe the collector’s desires — the American diplomats Herb and Helen Gordon who loved the vitality of Indian artIJ
We came across this suite of works of India’s Bengal Masters in the collection of Herb and Helen Gordon whose collection we were evaluating.And that is how the sale came to us.The first eight lots in the Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art sale are from the collection of Helen Gordon who was a remarkable woman – she was the wife of the senior American diplomat to India, Herb Gordon. Helen was a path breaker, visionary, educator and an ambassador for art and culture like few others of her generation. We are honoured to offer a selection of works from her collection. Also, from her collection are the three Bikash Bhattacharjee works.They are from the Rooftop series. He was a great admirer of the American painter Andrew Wyeth. Both Bhattacharjee and Wyeth were committed realists and like Wyeth who painted people and places that were familiar to him, Bhattacharjee focussed on the life and culture of his home city of Kolkata, highlighting the daily struggle, corruption and social inequalities within society. He particularly admired Wyeth’s treatment of light and shadow, his manipulation of monochrome tonalities, and his use of windows and wall-like empty spaces as devices to structure the composition and set the mood but it is interesting to see how he presented Calcutta’s rooftops with his understanding of Western grammar.
You also have a rare Ravi Varma in this sale. Is this one of the best you have sourced in your 20 year career in Christies and Sotheby’sIJ
Among the finest perhaps, but more importantly to find a Ravi Varma in America is a milestone. This work, Tillotama is a rendering of the classic Birth of Venus and I feel it is a sterling work. In my 20 years I have sourced four Ravi Varma’s and this one has a historic provenance. Fritz Schleicher was a German printer from Berlin, who managed the ‘Ravi Varma Oleographic and Chromolithographic Printing Workshop’ and later bought the printing press from Ravi Varma in 1903. Venus who was the embodiment of female beauty, is used as inspiration for Tilottama, another mythological character famed for her perfect form. In this painting, one can tell that Ravi Varma strove to impart the extreme desirability that led to the demon brothers’ downfall. Her composed gaze, voluptuous curves and the radiance of her complexion, all project a sense of vitality and fertility reminiscent of the early representation of Goddess figures in Central Indian sculpture.