Between the Lines

But while Mohamedi8217;s art8212;from early abstract expressionist late 8216;50s, early 8216;70s to geometric grid and later, minimalist work on paper8212;is there for all to see, almost everything else in her life was for private viewing.

8216;8216;Remember Nasreen8217;s frail limbs, ascetic face and ungendered artist persona8230; her narcissistic engagement with her body and stigmata she barely cared to hide,8217;8217; writes historian Geeta Kapur.

She was no doubt friendly with the gregarious and high-profile Bombay Progressives8212;Husain in particular, but she developed a closer friendship with VS Gaitonde, the pioneer of minimalist abstraction. And like her reclusive mentor, the 1937-born Mohamedi went on to become a reflective and self-critical painter, with her diary proving to be the only key to her, besides her art.

8216;8216;It is a most important time in my life. The new image for pure rationalism. Pure intellect which has to be separated from emotion8212;which I just begin to see now. A state beyond pain and pleasure. Again a difficult task begins,8217;8217; she says in an entry on May 22, 1960.

Extracting each work after much agonising, she often rejected canvases which would be given away to brother and artist Altaf to paint over. 8216;8216;Till date there are Altaf canvases with Nasreen8217;s work under it,8217;8217; says Chatterjee.

The simplicity that characterised her work also permeated her life. 8216;8216;When Nasreen came over to visit, she would be quite taken aback by the unrestrained display of artefacts and art that Altaf and I had collected,8217;8217; says sister-in-law Navjot, who later discovered that though Mohamedi8217;s living area was sparse like her paintings, 8216;8216;Nasreen also collected objects like magnets, shells and rust-ridden bits of iron.8217;8217; However, these objects were all stored away in a cupboard and she would take them out sometimes for a solitary gaze. 8216;8216;We found some of them after she died,8217;8217; Navjot adds.

Mohamedi studied in London in 1957 at St Martin8217;s School of Art and worked in Monsieur Guillard8217;s private atelier in Paris in the 8216;60s, but it8217;s from the Middle East that she drew inspiration. Her visit to Bahrain, Iran and Turkey in 1968 left a deep impact. She loved the region8217;s subtle dramatics8212;8216;8216;the strong aridity of the desert8230; makes one detached in a clear and vital way,8217;8217; says another diary entry.

But however strong her urge to travel, returning to India was imperative. She had her first exhibition in Mumbai at Bal Chabbda8217;s Gallery 59 in 1961. It was also here that she sold her first painting. 8216;8216;She took us all to the Great Oriental Restaurant for a feast we haven8217;t forgotten,8217;8217; recalls Chabbda.

Her first solo followed at Chemould in 1964. 8216;8216;It was Nasreen8217;s keen interest that drew us further into art,8217;8217; says Kekoo Gandhy, collector and founder of Mumbai8217;s Chemould Art Gallery, who was just one show old when he encountered the artist. Her warmth soon won the Gandhys over and they spent many a holiday with Mohamedi at her Kihim beach cottage. It was here that she spent hours watching the waves form patterns on the beach and collecting tiny objects, dear to her because they were so humble yet so integral to the universe.

Nasreen, from September 24 at Phillips in Colaba, Mumbai