CITIZEN GALLERY THE GANDHYS OF CHEMOULD AND THE BIRTH OF MODERN ART IN BOMBAY

<p>Now a byword in the art world the story of Gallery Chemould begins in</p><p>the 1940s when Kekoo Gandhy decided to set up a picture-framing store on</p><p>Princess Street. To this store Chemould Frames came the likes of K.H. Ara</p><p>M.F. Husain S.H. Raza F.N. Souza and others who called themselves the</p><p>Progressive Artists Group. Husain sold his first canvas from that very window.</p><p>Kekoo Gandhy brought in the few rich buyers there were in those days</p><p>including the scientist Homi Bhabha and the industrialist Naval Tata.</p><p>In the 1960s the manager of the Jehangir Art Gallery invited his friends</p><p>Kekoo and Khorshed to start an art gallery in an empty space on the first</p><p>floor. On 16 September 1963 Gallery Chemould opened its doors to the</p><p>world with an exhibition of paintings by K.K. Hebbar V.S. Gaitonde Laxman</p><p>Pai and several others from the growing community of Indian painters. It</p><p>became the training ground for the eyes of the city.</p><p>Eventually Chemould moved to an expansive new space: Chemould Prescott</p><p>Road now run by their daughter Shireen Jungalwala. The gallery's new avatar</p><p>continues to champion modern art with a range of brilliant artists from Vivan</p><p>Sundaram through Neelima Sheikh and Atul and Anju Dodiya to Jitesh Kallat</p><p>and Reena Saini-Kallat.</p><p>Did Gallery Chemould play midwife to the Progressives? Can a gallery be a</p><p>responsible citizen? Read on then</p>