Christie’s Parsis

Scupltor Ardeshir Davierwalla’s (1922-1975) work in welded steel, brass and glass titled Galaxy will go under the hammer at Christie’s New York auction of South Asian modern and contemporary art on September 13, 2017, according to the auctioneer’s website. The 40’’ x 30’’ x 15’’ piece executed in 1966 is expected to fetch between USD 40,000 and 60,000 (Rs 25.63 and 38.45 lakhs), states the website.
It was created from "pieces of metal and glass,” states New York based Nishad Avari, head of sales and associate vice president at Christie’s, in communication with Parsiana on August 23. "Two crescent forms, each suspending a free-moving starburst, appear to balance on opposite arms of a primeval kneeling Atlas-like figure,” he elaborates. In the work, "brass locks, drawer handles and small glass ampoules are transformed into elements of a cosmos,” he notes. The sculpture was inspired by Davierwalla’s "close association with (Dr) Homi Bhabha and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR)… It is a dynamic monument to pioneers like Bhabha who led the technological developments of the time,” says Avari.

Formally trained as a chemist, Bombay-born Davierwalla began experimenting with sculpture in the late 1940s, teaching himself about various techniques and materials. After some accolades, including from the Bombay Art Society, he gave up his pharmaceutical factory job and turned full-time to sculpture in 1959. His "diverse body of work included pieces carved in stone, wood and marble, cast in lead and bronze, assemblages of scrap metal and wood, monumental welded steel sculptures, and works featuring aluminum and magnets,” states Avari.
Also included in the lots for the September 13 sale is Jehangir Sabavala’s painting Stag-Antlered Tree II which is expected to sell for between USD 200,000 and 300,000 (Rs 1.28 and Rs 1.92 crores). Avari explains that this piece was executed in 2001 in oil on canvas. The 30” x 50” work depicts "a lone tree (that) branches out from the base of the canvas, its limbs appearing to reach beyond the confines of the pictorial space.” The tree resembles "the branching antlers of a stag… (and) seems vital and resilient, leafless only because of the changing seasons.” The most striking feature of the painting, is its background, vertically segmented into seven bands, resembling a Japanese folding screen, each painted in a different primary color, states Avari. "These bands perhaps represent different moments and qualities of light during…seasonal cycles,” the art man closes.
Both Davierwalla and Sabavala’s works were exhibited at "No Parsi is an Island,” a tribute to community artists from the second half of the 19th century to the present at the Cowasji Jehangir Hall, conceived as a project to coincide with the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress in December 2013.
Besides Davierwalla and Sabavala, the sale features works by V. S. Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta, Akbar Padamsee, Manjit Bawa and Ganesh Pyne, among other artists, notes their on-line catalog.