Akbar Padamsee (b. 1928)

'A light grey and a dark grey can be used as opposite poles. A scale is established between them, with a centre stretching toward the extremities…grey is without prejudice. It does not discriminate between object and space.'  (Vakils, Padamsee, Sadanga Series)

In 1959 Bal Chhabda opened Gallery 59 and at the end of the year he organized a solo exhibition of Akbar Padamsee’s paintings at the Jehangir Art Gallery that included famous works from his gray period such as Juhu Beach.  During his gray period, Padamsee worked with an almost ascetic restraint renouncing all color and confining himself to the rigor of working with the monochromatic palette of gray. In this 1959 cityscape, painted at the peak of his short-lived gray period, he balances a dream-like quality with dynamic energy using geometric shapes and forms.

'By restricting himself to grays, like the Chinese masters who confine themselves to the various shades of black, he strikes the richest vein of poetry in his art. In the paintings of 1959 and 1960 there is a lyrical intensity which comes from a passionate love affair. The affair is between the artist and his art, naked and defenceless.' (Shamlal, rpt. In Padamsee, 1964; p7.)

Padamsee first began experimenting with the landscape in the mid 1950's but works from this period are characterized by bright geometric planes of color that create well defined architectural forms. The early landscapes also tend to focus on a few buildings but over the second half of the decade they evolve into full scale cityscapes such as the present work.

For a similar work titled Greek Landscape, also from 1959, see Art Heritage 8, New Delhi, 1988-1989, p. 44.