Mumbai, Sep 3 (IANS): Artists and patrons of art paid tributes to noted painter Jehangir Sabavala, who died in Mumbai Saturday, describing his passing away as the second great loss to the art fraternity and nation in quick succession this year.
"His death is a loss to the entire art fraternity and the nation has lost another gem - after M.F. Husain, who died in June," said an official of the National Gallery of Modern Art that exhibited a retrospective of his works in 2005.
Sabavala, who died of respiratory failure, was 89 and had been suffering from lung cancer for the last few years.
"It is a personal loss to me. He was not only an artist whose works we exhibited at the gallery but a mentor to me," said Geeta Mehra, director of Sakshi Gallery here, which also hosted a retrospective of his works in 2005.
"Of course, it is also a loss to the entire art and cultural fraternity for his interests were not restricted to art alone. Apart from painting, he was interested in a range of disciplines, be it films or dance," she said.
"For Sabavala, painting was a spiritual journey," painter and author Prakash Joshi said. "Mostly, he was influenced by nature and natural elements, which figured in his paintings."
Joshi, who last met him around two decades back, reminced: "When I asked him how he came up with the depictions in his paintings, he told me that he did not do it deliberately. Everything he painted was in his subconscious."
Pune-based artist Murlidhar Nangare, who is also vice president of the Bombay Art Society that runs Mumbai's famous Jehangir Art Gallery, called Sabavala unique.
"I have had the honour to meet him on a couple of occasions and his unique painting style left me in awe," Nangare said. "He painted landscapes and figures like none else."
Sabavala painted in a style that was influenced by cubism and impressionism. His subjects were usually landscapes, figures and seascapes in pastels and muted colours.
Born in Mumbai in 1922, Sabavala graduated from the JJ School of Art in 1944. He then went on to study at Heatherley School of Art in London and the Academie Andre Lhote, the Academie Julian and the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris.