Osian's Auction Catalogue The Masterpieces Series | March 2010

70 37 j ehAngir s ABAvALA (b. 1922) Black Lillies Oil on canvas, 1966 S/d in English ‘Sabavala 66’ l.l. Inscribed in English ‘The Black Lilies by Jehangir Sabawala, 1966’ on verso 40.1 x 22.0 in (102.0 x 55.9 cm) Provenance THE OSIAN’s COLLECTION. INR 4,000,000 – 6,000,000 US$ 83,330 – 125,000 “The visionary landscape is perfected between 1964 and 1973. Formally, the paintings balance the need to establish a firm anchorage against the desire for upwards aspiring movement, ascension; to present gravity while also delivering flight...Sabavala, in quest of the sublime, orchestrates a breath taking interplay of his austere, geometricising stylization and that opulent, sensuous understanding of colour, that chromaticism which is his forte. The high-keyed palette subsides; the structure achieves an optimal balance between abstraction and representation, a summation of the streams that have poured into his art.” – Ranjit Hoskote, The Crucible of Painting: The Art of Jehangir Sabavala, 2005, p.106-107