The Slayer of Evil

TYEB MEHTA'S ‘Durga Mahishasura Mardini’ is that rare work – a painting by the master that has never been seen before. Gaurav Bhatia, Managing Director of Sotheby’s India, noticed it in the home of his father’s friend in Kolkata and realised its value. This one of a kind work of art forms is the centre piece of Sotheby’s first auction in India in December. Mehta painted it while at Shantiniketan in West Bengal when he could see Durga everywhere in the aftermath of the 1992/93 riots in Mumbai while he was in Shantiniketan. So there she is, wrapped in white, referencing the colours of the Indian flag, in a work that is as powerful as it is timely. Mehta’s work does well in auctions. In May 2017, a new world record was established for him when his ‘Woman on Rickshaw’ was sold for `22.9 crore by Christie’s in London – also becoming the most expensive work of South Asian art sold globally last year.