Tyeb's Durga at Sotheby's

In Delhi Yamini Mehta, Senior Director, International Head, India, and South Asian Art, Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art, Sotheby's – is effusive about the Tyeb Mehta painting that hangs in Bikaner House for the preview. Definitive of an era, Durga Mahisasura Mardini merits its place in art history and is one of the greatest tributes Mehta would make to classical Indian mythology.

"This masterpiece, was a private commission, and is regarded as one of the most provocative portrayals of the human condition by the artist, rendered in the aftermath of civil strife," states Yamini. "Mehta preserves the pathos of his narrative and simultaneously elevates it to universal importance through the exclusive reserve of high art. In doing so, he references some of the most poignant themes in Indian classical mythology and uses them almost as an 'armature' on which to hang his feelings."

Durga Mahisasura Mardini, Mehta's very first rendition of the iconic, mythological theme of the goddess Durga slaying the buffalo demon Mahisasura with her trident, resonates not with fury, but with a sense of concern and frustration that was perfectly suited to the time. Through his brushstrokes, he is able to capture the nuances of musculature, expression, and movement both in the dead buffalo and in the figure of Durga. In the avenging figure of Durga, he alludes to a sense of grief and tenderness rather than rage.

The representation of good over evil and enlightenment over ignorance is a common theme in the canon of Western and Indian art. The powerful imagery of Durga Mahisasura Mardini reminds the viewer of classical portrayals of the battle of good over evil by Old Masters such as Raphael's in his St. Michael Vanquishing Satan or Eugene Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. Here, Tyeb's representation re-configures this theme as an allegory for the twentieth century. With disharmony in society threatening to rip apart the social fabric of India, the spirit of secularism and harmony, and violence are appropriated and recast as the goddess Durga and the demon Mahisasura. These historical inferences become even more interesting considering this painting's clear connections with classical mythology and Mehta's apparent attempt to align himself with the stalwarts of art history."Mehta's genius was in his use of colour, composition, and radical painting technique," adds Yamini. "His use of colour here is theatrical: set against a background of serene blue the palette is energised to a new intensity with its white, green, black and cream, each colour vying for supremacy against his more habitual hues. The figures are bursting with life, imbuing the work with emotional charge and drama. The central theme in the guise of a goddess and fallen demon find their corollary here, their meaning amplified by the subject."

The real focus of course, is Durga who is depicted as the heroic figure with her upraised arms, wielding her trident that has just pierced the heart of the demon, standing over the fallen figure of Mahisasura. The power of this painting is in the contrast in scale between the goddess whose almost oneiric figure rises above that of the fallen demon who lies defeated at her feet. In the artist's own words, "I've always wanted to paint a mother Goddess...At Santiniketan in Bengal, I could feel the presence of Kali and Durga." Much of Mehta's work from the 1960s to the 1970s depicted the human figure. However, sometime in the 1980s, when Tyeb was at Shantiniketan, at the behest of K G Subramanyan, he visited the Charak spring festival of the Santhal tribes in Bengal that inspired Shantiniketan Triptych. During the time he spent at the festival, he noticed the powerful presence of a tribal woman on whom he modelled Kali. "To me, it seemed that she had disappeared like the goddess and then I found her sitting inside the hut. I saw it only from outside because I wasn't allowed in and she was sitting inside silently. But she had a strong presence. I still carry that presence in my mind. I have never been struck by a human being to this extent. That presence dictated to me what Kali should be." (Interview with Y Dalmia, Tyeb Mehta: Triumph of Vision, Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, 2011, p. 17). Thus followed by his famous group of six Kali paintings,

Tyeb Mehta's Durga will be part of the 'Boundles India' sale at Sotheby's Mumbai on November 29.