To paint is to emote in a language without words, dousing the canvas in colour and emotion; a result which may not always have monetary value.
With this very philosophy, Jehangir Vazifdar made a mark in the city’s art world as an artist who never sold a painting. Five years after his passing, Vazifdar’s son Phiroze has restored a large selection of his 10,000 paintings and sketches in a coffee table book, Jehangir Vazifdar: Artist and Visionary.
The book tells the story of a self-made man who began his career as a professor of design at the JJ School of Architecture, and soon went on to become one of the city’s most prominent post-Independence architects. His contributions to the South-Bombay’s skyline includes buildings like the Breach Candy Apartments, Sorrento, Eden Hall, Amalfi, Cuffe Castle and Washington House. Phiroz says, “In 1962, no builder was willing to build in the Back Bay reclamation area, however, it was my father who set foot on that land and contributed to the way it looks today.”
Though Vazifdar was most influential in Mumbai’s building and architecture circuit, his true passion lay in painting. He slotted at least two to three hours a day to emote the day’s angst, frustration, or even joy on canvas, and document his emotions in what he considered as the truest medium of expression.
“Through my work I’m always pleasing others, but in my art, I am a free man,” are his words recalled by his son. It is for this very reason that he never sold any of his paintings. He did, however, share them as gifts.
One such creation was presented to Abby Grey, collector, patron and founder of the Grey Art Gallery and Study Centre in New York. During her travels through Iran, Pakistan and India in 1965, she met with the artist and was deeply impressed by his self-portrait. When she asked Vazifdar how much he would sell it for, he simply brushed it off by saying “I refuse to sell my art at a cheap rate. It is not for sale!” After much persuasion, he agreed to present it to her for free.
Last year, in an exhibition titled ‘Abby Grey and Indian Modernism,’ the self-portrait hung on the wall of the NYC art gallery, alongside masterpieces by FN Souza, MF Husain, Krishen Khanna, Somnath Hore, Mohan Samant and Krishna Reddy.
“The exhibition played a significant role in inspiring me to restore and compile my father’s forgotten works for posterity by way of this book,” says Phiroze. “Even though his architecture was well-planned and simple, in his art, he was a rebel. And it was important for me to record that.”
Vazifdar also contributed to the city’s art scene by setting up Studio Windsor, an art studio where several freelance artists were commissioned to recreate paintings of classical masters such as Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, Botticelli, Titian, and Raphael among others. “He had the urge to promote the Indian artist who was badly exploited in those days,” says Phiroze. “He therefore paid large sums of money to every artist who worked at the studio to reproduce some of the finest copies in the country.”
In the 60s, Vazifdar came-up with the first ‘Colour Dictionary,’ in which each colour represented an alphabet and emotion that invoked confidence in an observer to be a true ‘reader’ of the artwork. For example, white signified death, black represented peace, yellow meant life, red translated to joy and so on. The dictionary also stated reasons behind each association.
Vazifdar’s go-to spot in the city was the Taj Mahal Palace hotel where, sitting at precisely the same table every day, he sipped on half a peg of gin. Phiroze recalls, “My father was a man of routine. So, he would shut shop at 3.45 pm every day, and take a stroll through the racecourse, or be immersed in deep thought by the pool at the Willingdon Sports Club.”
A passionate horse-lover, the artist owned several steeds that won at the derby through the years. He also has a trophy named after him at the races.
The artist has painted portraits of Indira Gandhi in 1972, when she was the Prime Minister of India, and of Pope Paul VI. His his last major painting in oil is a detailed artwork of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. “However, it is the painting of my grandmother that is inarguably, one of my father’s most powerful works, and I believe it is because of his close connection with her,” says Phiroze.
Vazifdar’s artwork is as a personal diary of his stories, and they are also the story of someone who painted for the joy of it, and nothing else. Now, they are immortalised in the pages of a book
Art Exhibition of works by Jehangir Vazifdar will be on display till April 15 at the Jehangir Vazifdar Gallery, Colaba. By appointment only. Contact 22029548/ 22832557/ 22870859.
The author is a freelance writer
