Owner8217;s Pride/Kekoo Gandhy

It was outbreak of World War II that gave birth to Chemould Frames. When Kekoo Gandhy found himself unable to return to Cambridge, he got...

It was outbreak of World War II that gave birth to Chemould Frames. When Kekoo Gandhy found himself unable to return to Cambridge, he got together with Belgian framemaker Van Damme to set up a chemical moulding manufacturing company. Mouldings for frames, earlier imported, were in short supply owing to the war when the two exiles stepped in to fill the lacuna. As chance would have it, the new business coincided with the burgeoning art movement in India. In 1940, due to British interest in Indian art, the Bombay Art Society had come into being. Kekoo was made honorary secretary at the behest of Walter Langhammer 8212; a rare honour as till then Sir Cawasji Jehangir had the distinction of being the only Indian member of this British-oriented society.

The walls of Kekee Manzil, Kekoo8217;s stately heritage home on the Mount Mary Hill seaface, tell many such tales. quot;You see that painting, that is my children done by Langhammer. His wife was Jewish, so they fled to India as expatriates of the war.quot; Originally a teacherin the Academy of Art, Vienna, Langhammer was quick to recognise the potential of Indian artists like Raza, Ara and Rabia and coaxed Kekoo into making frames with mouldings. And the shop on Princess Street, by the same name, was born. Artists like Gaitonde and Husain could now, for the first time, show and sell their work as part of the window display. Till then, the annual sale of the Bombay Art Society was the only contact between art lovers and artists.

The high walls of Kekee Manzil also wax eloquent of an era gone by. They tell stories of Rudy Von Lyden 8212; the German cartoonist; Emmanuel Schlesinger 8212; a Viennese collector of Indian works; and the Volkart Brothers now Voltas. All these friends of Kekoo can be called the first foreign collectors of Indian art. Some of whom generously gifted art back to the country 8212; like the Von Lyden8217;s donation of Sinner Divine8217; by Palsikar to the NGMA. The wall running along the rich Burma teak staircase is lined with Tyeb Mehta tapestries, works by Papri Bose,Sundaram, Hebbar, Baburao Sadwelkar, several Husain sketches and an early Raza painting of Kekoo8217;s home at Matheran. These works also tell the story of the origins of the Artists8217; Centre, in 1945. quot;As the momentum grew, we felt the dearth of a place where art could be shown and exhibited throughout the year. So the Artists8217; Centre then called the Bombay Art Society Salon8217;, came into being. Husain8217;s first big exhibition was opened here by Mrs Langhammer.quot;

Unraveling a portfolio of paintings on his 13-ft Jacobean dining table, gifted by the country8217;s foremost artists for his golden wedding anniversary, Kekoo talks of how the Artists8217; Centre was soon found to be too small for the rapidly growing contemporary art movement. That led to Sir Cawasji Jehangir, also a trustee of the Prince of Wales Museum, orchestrating the opening of the Jehangir Art Gallery in 1951. Finally, artists had a space they could book to showcase their work.

In 1963, the first floor of the Jehangir Art Gallery, until then unused, wasmade into a sponsoring gallery to be run on professional lines by Kekoo. Here artists did not have to invest in hiring a gallery, printing catalogues and hosting receptions. That was done by Kekoo in his Gallery Chemould. To this day, Kekoo enjoys showing art personally and encourages artists from all over India 8212; be it tribal Bihar or young J J School graduates.

But ask him about his favourite painting and after much prodding, he mistily points at the first painting he bought 8212; for Rs 100 8212; a Hebbar rendition of the artist8217;s brother8217;s children. But really, for Kekoo art is not about collecting, it is about nurturing 8212; artists like Ram Kumar, Laxman Pyne, Husain, Raza, Ara and most recently, Jitish Kallat all owe their careers and canvases to him.