Sabavala’s prices soar

Flight into Egypt a painting by the late Jehangir Sabavala, fetched a record three crore rupees at a live auction conducted by Saffronart in Delhi on September 3, 2014, reported the Sunday Times of India (STOI) in its edition of September 7. Competitive bidding sent the price of the work soaring from the estimated Rs 80 to 90 lakhs. "We knew it would do well but this was beyond expectations,” admitted the artist’s wife Shirin who was elated at the news. For an artist considered "not Indian enough,” this recognition was well overdue. At an earlier Saffronart auction in 2010, one of the serene landscapes for which the senior artist was famed fetched Rs 1.7 crore and two years later a buyer paid Rs 2.1 crore for Vespers 1.
Sabavala, who succumbed to lung cancer in Bombay in 2011, was known for his superb handling of light. His first solo exhibition was mounted at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay after he returned from Europe in the 1950s. "We hired a room at the Taj and they wouldn’t let us bang nails in. We finally found a way by getting carpenters to build frames,” recalled Shirin. She also told STOI that Flight into Egypt dealt with the theme of exile which was close to Sabavala’s heart.