India’s Francis Bacon, 84-year-old Tyeb Mehta died following a heart attack at a Mumbai hospital. In one of his last interviews to Gayatri of The Times of India, the painter whose work fetched the highest ever price for an Indian canvas in an international auction said he never painted for money.
Tyeb Mehtas occupy pride of place in living rooms of the rich and famous from Malabar Hill to Defence Colony. But 82-year-old Mehta himself has managed from his life’s earnings a sparse middle-class apartment, one room converted into a studio, in Lokhandwala, Mumbai. The most highly-valued art works in India lean face-against-the-wall in his studio, as the dust and noise of Andheri rises from beneath.
Has the recession affected art prices? Tyeb, who leads the market rate, should know. His last canvas Kali broke the Rs 1 crore barrier, and his Celebration went for Rs 1.5 crore ($317,500) on September 19, 2003. A Christies’s representative says of him, “Tyeb Mehta is undoubtedly amongst our most important Indian artist.”
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