Citizen Gallery the Gandhys of Chemould and the Birth of Modern Art in Bombay

Now a byword in the art world the story of Gallery Chemould begins inthe 1940s when Kekoo Gandhy decided to set up a picture-framing store onPrincess Street. To this store Chemould Frames came the likes of K.H. Ara M.F. Husain S.H. Raza F.N. Souza and others who called themselves theProgressive Artists Group. Husain sold his first canvas from that very window.Kekoo Gandhy brought in the few rich buyers there were in those daysincluding the scientist Homi Bhabha and the industrialist Naval Tata.In the 1960s the manager of the Jehangir Art Gallery invited his friendsKekoo and Khorshed to start an art gallery in an empty space on the firstfloor. On 16 September 1963 Gallery Chemould opened its doors to theworld with an exhibition of paintings by K.K. Hebbar V.S. Gaitonde LaxmanPai and several others from the growing community of Indian painters. Itbecame the training ground for the eyes of the city.Eventually Chemould moved to an expansive new space: Chemould PrescottRoad now run by their daughter Shireen Jungalwala. The gallerys new avatarcontinues to champion modern art with a range of brilliant artists from VivanSundaram through Neelima Sheikh and Atul and Anju Dodiya to Jitesh Kallatand Reena Saini-Kallat.Did Gallery Chemould play midwife to the Progressives? Can a gallery be aresponsible citizen? Read on then