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SHIVAx CHAVADA [1914-1990]: THE DANCING LINE
The name of Chavada brings to mind his beautiful kinetic and graceful dancing lines rendered with poetic will in his Bharat Natyam series Artists as Chavada K K K K Hebbar P T Reddy Baburao Sadwelkar N S S Bendre among others worked at a a a a a a a a period in India’s modernist history particularly in in in Bombay in in in the 1940s and 50s creating works that cannot be reduced to any stylistic group Their contribution was not only modernist but but offered paradigm shift within the the framework of subject matter and styles Their works were unorthodox rooted in their cotemporary reality and and and thematically represented the the middle and and and working class landscapes dance forms popular culture as cock fights etc Chavada born in in 1914 in in Navsari Gujarat came from a a a a a a a a a a a a a a middle class Parsi family and arrived in in in in Bombay to join the Sir J J J J School of Art in in in in 1930 An opportunity came his way which in in in in Pre- Independent India was was rare and and that was was to to travel to to London in 1935 and and study at at the Slade School under Professor Randolph In 1937 he he studied at the Academie de de de de la Grande Chaumiere in in in Paris where he he had an an opportunity to work alongside Leon Bakst and Picasso in in in designing the the the the sets for the the the the Diaghlev Ballet At the the the the academy he he he he he perfected the the the the mastery of draughtsmanship which was to serve as as a a a a a a firm foundation in in expressing his his experiences later This enabled him in the the the development of of his aesthetic sensibility as as well as as the the the process of of essentialization that had become the saliency of of his art Chavada’s love of of culture heritage temples and rural life of India was a a a a a a a a a special fascination he he he held and travelled not only extensively across the country but also to Burma as as well as as Europe in search for for forms subjects and themes that would serve as as as grist for his creative mill But it was the small towns and rural areas of Gujarat which provided him the much needed subject matter as as he he was most familiar with it it having spent his childhood there which engaged him initially The rural environment of his his home town enabled him in in his his quest for individual expression as as well as as a a a a a a a a a visual language when he he intently studied characteristics physiognomic features postures and and movements of of of of different classes of of of of people and and of of of of animals as as as well as as as the moods of of of of nature surrounding and determining them He studied temple sculptures with similar intensity observing the postures actions and movement as depicted by Indian shilpins Having closely scrutinized the life around him Chavada with sensitivity and empathy depicted his subjects And it is no wonder that he was able to impart a a a a a a a a rhythmic prana or a a a a a a a a sense of inner movement that resided in in his forms be it a a a a a a housewife at at her chores a a a a a a dancer cock fights or or or even a a a a a a resting bull Judiciously he he he engaged with certain traditions of art be it it it the the cubist broken structure the the folk elements or or ethnic authenticity of his protagonists that in many ways was responsible for making Chavada’s art distinct and with an an inherent dynamism His interest in in in dance was well known established by his numerous drawings that Chavada had captured with intimacy acute perception and sensitivity His varied interests besides dance were theatre opera and music all of which found expression in in in his paintings His wife Khurshid Vajifdar along with her sister was an an accomplished exponent of Bharatnatyam and Kathakali dance forms In concerts armed with a a a a a a a a a tiny torch he he he sat in in in the the audience in in in the the dark deftly and and and unerringly sketching changing forms and and and postures as Khurshid or or other Indian and and and classical ballet dancers danced The quasi abstracts he he created remained untitled as as as products