‘Citizen Gallery’ by Jerry Pinto: How an art gallery shaped India’s modern art scene

Mahendra Damle

THE Indian art scene started taking shape in pre-Independence India. Art schools, art societies and then galleries got established. However, the art scene wasn’t as vibrant as it is today and was mostly confined to urban centres that had evolved under the British rule. Mumbai was one such centre that was slowly developing as a cosmopolitan business centre. It is here that Indian art, infused with western idiom, blossomed.

The Mumbai art scene was the Indian art scene at that time. Art schools like Sir JJ School of Art were providing education, of course, but the fundamental question for young artists passing out from these schools was: where shall we go from here? There were not many avenues to present art, there were few buyers and modern art was not understood by many. Even artists who rebelled against art school education and were encouraged and mentored by Walter Langhammer, the Austrian artist who had fled to India following the National Socialist annexation of Austria, all needed a space where they could showcase their works.

At the time, Kekoo Gandhy was already active on the Mumbai art scene in a peripheral way. He had started a frame moulding factory and later a frame-making shop, using its window as a display space for young painters. He was also friends with the trio of artists Rudolf Von Leyden, Walter Langhammer and Emmanuel Schlesinger, all of whom were living in India at the time. Kekoo became the perfect catalyst. His interactions with them sowed the seed of a private gallery.

Kekoo and his wife, Khorshed, established Chemould Art Gallery on September 16, 1963, on the first floor of Jehangir Art Gallery. It was the first art gallery of Mumbai which presented modern and contemporary art. It slowly became an adda for writers, poets, activists and played a key role in the cultural scene of Mumbai. Along with artists like SH Raza, Shankar Palshikar, HA Gade, Sadanand Bakre, VS Gaitonde, MF Husain, KK Hebbar and Akbar Padamsee, Chemould became synonymous with modern Indian art.

This was a time when the galleries and artists thrived on mutual trust. At times, when sales were frugal, many artists depended on the gallery system — where the galleries would give a monthly honorarium to support the artists and the artists would have an understanding about showcasing their works and sharing a percentage from the sale during exhibitions. Many big names of Indian art, including Tyeb Mehta, were part of this arrangement and many memories and stories regarding this are part of the book, ‘Citizen Gallery — Gandhys of Chemould and the Birth of Modern Art in Bombay’ written by Jerry Pinto.

Today, when art has become big business, reading about the times before and after the birth of Chemould Art Gallery, the individuals involved and depiction of major events in the art world is a pleasure. It offers many lessons for aspiring contemporary artists. Jerry Pinto, a friend of the Gandhys, has honestly recorded and documented the life and work of Kekoo and Khorshed.

The book has been written with love and warmth and it feels as if the reader is going through a family album. Many important letters between the artists and the Gandhy couple have been shared. These throw light on the friendship, trust and business relations they shared. Kekoo and Khorshed were distinct individuals who worked together, expanding and maintaining business at the same time.

The book is like a kaleidoscope providing interesting pictures of Kekoo, Khorshed and their daughters, and artists like Jehangir Sabavala, Gaitonde, Raza, Husain, Bal Chhabda, Mehta, Langhammer and Schlesinger, besides other prominent people like Naval Tata, Homi Bhabha, Mulk Raj Anand, etc.

It recounts many interesting episodes. For instance, when Kekoo had just started the framing factory, Italian PoWs in Mumbai were turning out paintings for army camps in South-east Asia. He started framing these works and thus began his tryst with art.

The book also has recorded important interviews with art critics Ranjit Hoskote and Nancy Adajania about what the gallery, as a space, means to them and how they feel it has changed over time. The book is a must-have for art lovers, students, historians and a joy to read. An elegant publication, indeed.