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Kekoo Gandhy

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Kekoo Gandhy
Born
Kaikhushru Minochair Gandhy

(1920-02-02)2 February 1920
Bombay,Bombay Presidency,British India (present-day Mumbai)
Died10 November 2012(2012-11-10)(aged 92)
Mumbai,Maharashtra,India
NationalityIndian
Occupation(s)Gallerist,gallery chemould (established 1963),art collectorand art connoisseur
Spouse
Khorshed Adenwalla
​
(m.1944)​
ChildrenRashna, Adil, Behroze, Shireen Gandhy
AwardsPadma Shriin 2008
Websitegallerychemould

Kekoo Gandhy(2 February 1920 – 10 November 2012) was an Indian artgallerist,art collectorand art connoisseur, who pioneered the promotion ofIndian modern artfrom the 1940s. He established Chemould Frames, a frame manufacturing business in 1941, soon he started displaying works of young modern artistsK. H. Ara,S. H. Raza,K. K. HebbarandM. F. Husainin his showroom windows.[1]This led to gradual rise of modern art movement and post-colonial art in India. Eventually Gallery Chemould, India's firstcommercial art gallery,was opened in 1963 on the first floor of theJehangir Art Gallery.[2][3]

He was awarded thePadma ShribyGovernment of Indiain 2008.[4]

Life and career

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Kaikhushru (Kekoo) Minocher Gandhy was born inBombayon 2 February 1920 to Minocher Gandhy and Roshan Gandhy (néeRoshan Batliwalla).[5]Kekoo was educated at Bombay'sCathedral and John Connon School,from which he matriculated aged 17, gaining a place atPembroke College, Cambridge.But after spending summer 1939 in India, Kekoo Gandhy could not return to Cambridge due to the outbreak ofWorld War II.In 1940, Kekoo was appointed Honorary Secretary of theBombay Art Society,the first Indian to hold the position.[6]

In 1941, Kekoo and his brother Russy Gandhy set up the Chemical Moulding Manufacturing Company, later abbreviated to Chemould, to manufacture frames for paintings.[7][8]Kekoo displayedBombay Progressive Artists' Grouppaintings in Chemould's Bombay shop, which grew out of a godown on Princess Street; the Bombay Progressives made their first sales through this shop.[7]Gallery/shop managers included Roshan Kalapesi and poetNissim Ezekiel.[9]

Kekoo's knack for spotting promising young talent[10]led to exhibitions that helped establish the reputations ofMF Husain,Tyeb Mehta,Ram Kumar,SH Raza,Bhupen Khakhar,Nalini Malani,Atul Dodiya,Anju Dodiya,Jitish Kallat,Reena Saini Kallat,KH Ara,Bal Chhabda,Krishen Khanna,Jehangir Sabavala,Gaitonde,KK Hebbar,Vivan Sundaram,andJivya Soma Mashe.[7][11]Immediately after his successful first Husain exhibition, in 1951, Kekoo Gandhy collaborated with industrialist and collectorCowasji Jehangirand the nuclear scientistHomi Bhabhato establish theJehangir Art Galleryin Bombay, a first for modern art.[11][12]Kekoo establishedGallery Chemouldin 1963 on the first floor of the Jehangir Art Gallery, holding exhibitions there until 2007, when it moved to its new premises on Prescott Road.[13]

Starting in the 1970s, Kekoo Gandhy was instrumental in developing the former Sir Cowasji Jehangir Public Hall in Bombay into the presentNational Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai.[14]At various times Kekoo also actively supported theLalit Kala Akademi(National Academy of Fine Arts) and Triennale India 1968.[12]

As part of his commitment to the social sphere, Kekoo Gandhy sheltered activists in his home during theIndian Emergency(26 June 1975 – 21 March 1977). And during the Hindu fundamentalistBombay riots(December 1992 – January 1993) he was active in themohalla(neighbourhood) committees that worked for inter-religious solidarity.[11]After working with him for a few years, in 1988, his daughter Shireen Gandhy took over the running of Gallery Chemould.[15]Shireen's child, Atyaan Jungalwala, and Sunaina Kewalramani established a new location in 2022 named Chemould CoLab.[16]

For his work in the Arts, Kekoo Gandhy was awarded thePadma Shriin 2008 byGovernment of India.[17]He died on 10 November 2012, at his home atBandra bandstandin Mumbai, after a brief illness due to pancreatic cancer. He was survived by four children, Rashna, Adil, Behroze, and Shireen. His daughter Shireen Gandhy, continues to head Chemould (nowChemould Prescott Road).[15][18]

In December 2013, part of Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy's personal collection of art was sold atChristie'sfirst auction in India. The sale included works by Gaitonde, Ram Kumar, Raza, Tyeb Mehta, MF Husain, Jamini Roy, Ganesh Pyne, and Pochkhanawala.[19][20]

Kekoo Gandhy appears thinly disguised as Parsi gallery owner 'Kekoo Mody' inSalman Rushdie'sThe Moor's last sigh(1995).[21]

References

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  1. ^"How a framing company became Mumbai's iconic Gallery Chemould".The Indian Express.15 September 2023.Retrieved5 December2023.
  2. ^"Chemould celebrates fifty years".The Times of India.17 August 2013.Retrieved24 May2014.
  3. ^ "Gallery Chemould: The alchemists".Mint.Retrieved24 May2014.
  4. ^"Padma Awards"(PDF).Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 15 October 2015.Retrieved21 July2015.
  5. ^D'Souza, Ornella (31 August 2023)."Archival show set to celebrate 60 years of Chemould, Mumbai's iconic art gallery".thefederal.Retrieved5 December2023.
  6. ^Sharda Dwiwedi,Artists' Centre, Mumbai"The Art District - Artists' Centre Mumbai".Archived fromthe originalon 25 December 2012.Retrieved26 April2013.
  7. ^abcMeher Marfatia (11 November 2012)."Kekoo Gandhy: Guru, mentor, patron, critic and more".The Times of India.Retrieved24 May2014.
  8. ^"The Accidental Gallerist and the Making of Indian Modern Art".The Wire.14 May 2018.Retrieved18 July2020.
  9. ^Nandini BhaskaranPerfect frameThe Hindu7 March 2004
  10. ^Business India.A. H. Adavni. 2004. p. 141.Retrieved24 May2014.
  11. ^abc Nancy Adajania(28 January 2013)."Beyond the Commodity Fetish: Art and the Public Sphere in India".Guggenheim, New York.Retrieved24 May2014.
  12. ^abRanjit Hoskote(27 December 2012)."Requiem for a Pioneer".Art in Americamagazine.Retrieved24 May2014.
  13. ^Karin Zitzewitz 'Framing a gallery of heroes'Archived19 January 2013 at theWayback MachineArt India,2 February 2013.
  14. ^Shivaprasad M Khened (Director) NGMA, Mumbai."NGMA, Mumba, History".National Gallery of Modern Art.Retrieved24 May2014.
  15. ^abRosalyn D'Mello (13 November 2012)."Indian Art World Mourns the Loss of Gallerist Kekoo Gandhy".Blouin Artinfo. Archived fromthe originalon 9 May 2018.Retrieved24 May2014.
  16. ^Acharya, Pratiksha (16 September 2023)."One Frame At A Time: Mumbai's Oldest Contemporary Art Gallery Turns 60".Grazia India.
  17. ^"Padma Awards Directory (1954–2013)"(PDF).Ministry of Home Affairs.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 15 October 2015.
  18. ^Sankhayan Ghosh (11 November 2012)."Kekoo Gandhy, gallerist and art connoisseur, dead".Indian Express.Retrieved24 May2014.
  19. ^Ray, Parni."Indian art waits for a renaissance".Business Line.Retrieved24 May2014.
  20. ^"Christie's First India Auction Offers Lots from The Gandhys' Collection".BLOUINArt+Auctionmagazine. 20 November 2013.Retrieved24 May2014.
  21. ^Stuti Khanna'Art and the city: Salman Rushdie and his artists'The Free Library 2006

Bibliography

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