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{{Short description|Indian artist (1914–1990)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}{{Use Indian English|date=January 2023}}

{{Infobox artist
| image = Shiavax Chavda.jpg
| birth_date = {{birth date|1914|12|11|df=y}}
| death_date = {{death date and age|1990|08|18|1914|12|11|df=y}}
| children = 2
| birth_place = [[Navsari]], [[Gujarat]]
| death_place = [[Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]]
| alma_mater = [[Sir J. J. School of Art]] (1930-35)<br>[[Slade School of Fine Art]] (1936-38)
| known_for = {{hlist|Painting|illustration|mural}}
| awards = [[List of Lalit Kala Akademi fellows|Fellow of Lalit Kala Akademi]] (1986)
| website = {{url|https://www.shiavaxchavda.com/}}
| spouse = Khurshid Vajifdar
}}

'''Shiavax Dhanjibhoy Chavda''' (18 June 1914{{Dash}}18 August 1990) was an Indian painter, illustrator and muralist. Known for his dynamic line drawings and paintings, Chavda's work mainly showcased the dancers and musicians from India and Southeast Asia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Raman |first=A. S. |date=1 August 1974 |title=Contemporary Indian Artists |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_indian-and-foreign-review_1974-08-01_11_20/page/16/mode/2up?q=shiavax+chavda |journal=[[Indian and Foreign Review]] |volume=11 |issue=20 |pages=16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Shiavax Chavda (Indian, 1914–1990) |url=https://www.artnet.com/artists/shiavax-chavda/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=[[Artnet]]}}</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Chavda was born in a middle class [[Parsis|Parsi]] family on 18 June 1914 in [[Navsari]], [[Gujarat]]. His father Dhanjibhoy was a trader and his mother's name was Hillamai. He completed his school education in Navsari and joined the [[Sir J. J. School of Art]] in Mumbai.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.176016/page/n120/mode/1up?q=shiavax+chavda |title=India Who's Who 1980-81 |publisher=INFA Publications |location=New Delhi |pages=78}}</ref>

After passing the art diploma examination in 1935,<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.107872/page/n251/mode/2up?q=shiavax+chavda |title=Annual Report of the Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay, for the year 1934-35 |location=Bombay |pages=57 |chapter=List of candidates who passed the drawing and art examinations, 1935|year=1934 }}</ref> he was awarded the Sir Ratan Tata Scholarship in 1936 for further studies and secured admission in [[Slade School of Fine Art]] in London.<ref name=":4">{{Cite news |date=16 January 1947 |title=Paintings by S. D. Chavda - Exhibition at the Taj |pages=3 |work=[[The Bombay Chronicle]] |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.granth.2009/page/2/mode/1up?q=shiavax+chavda |access-date=1 January 2023}}</ref> Under the guidance of eminent teachers such as [[Randolph Schwabe]] combined with self-study, he completed the three-year course in two years itself, graduating with a fine arts diploma in 1938.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Takenaka |first=Masao |url=https://archive.org/details/christianartinas0000unse/page/162/mode/2up?q=shiavax+chavda |title=Christian Art in Asia |publisher=Kyo Bun Kwan |year=1975 |location=Tokyo |pages=163}}</ref> A few months later, he also trained at the [[Académie de la Grande Chaumière]] in Paris.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3A%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B0_%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A4%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8B%E0%A4%B6_%E0%A4%96%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A1_%E0%A5%AC_-_%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%BE.pdf&page=212 |title=शिल्पकार चरित्रकोश खंड ६ - दृश्यकला |publisher=साप्ताहिक विवेक, हिंदुस्थान प्रकाशन संस्था |year=2013 |editor-last=बहुळकर |editor-first=सुहास |location=मुंबई |pages=147–149 |language=mr |trans-title=Artists' Encyclopedia Vol. 6 - Visual Arts |access-date=12 December 2022 |editor-last2=घारे |editor-first2=दीपक}}</ref>

During his stay in Europe, Chavda mastered the techniques of murals, lithography, painting restoration, as well as theater stage design with the Russian artist [[Vladimir Polunin]].<ref name=":4" /> After his return to India in 1939, he studied [[Indian classical music]] and took elementary lessons in [[Indian classical dance]].<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=Encyclopaedia visual art of Maharashtra : artists of the Bombay school and art institutions (late 18th to early 21st century) |date=2021-03-02 |publisher=Pundole Art Gallery |isbn=978-81-89010-11-9 |editor-last=Bahulkar |editor-first=Suhas |edition=First |location=Mumbai |oclc=1242719488}}</ref> He was also briefly associated with the [[Bombay Progressive Artists' Group]]<ref>{{Cite book|last=Lee |first=Rachel |title=Hospitable Environments: The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel and Green's Hotel as Sites of Cultural Production in Bombay |chapter=Hospitable Environments |date=2020 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv16qk3nf.16 |work=Arrival Cities |pages=249–268 |editor-last=Lee |editor-first=Rachel |series=Migrating Artists and New Metropolitan Topographies in the 20th Century |publisher=Leuven University Press |doi=10.2307/j.ctv16qk3nf.16 |jstor=j.ctv16qk3nf.16 |isbn=978-94-6270-226-4 |s2cid=242254328 |access-date=2023-01-22 |editor2-last=Dogramaci |editor2-first=Burcu |editor3-last=Hetschold |editor3-first=Mareike |editor4-last=Lugo |editor4-first=Laura Karp}}</ref> and worked as an art director with a well-known film unit.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last1=Thacker |first1=Manu |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.26672/page/n35/mode/2up?q=shiavax+chavda |title=Present day painters of India |last2=Venkatachalam |first2=G. |publisher=Sudhangshu Publications |year=1950 |location=Bombay |pages=17–20}}</ref>

== Career ==
Initially, Chavda painted in [[Victorian painting|Victorian realistic style]]. During his travels across India, he studied the rural and tribal life, animals, as well as the architecture of [[Ajanta Caves|Ajanta]] & [[Ellora Caves|Ellora]], [[Khajuraho Group of Monuments|Khajuraho]], [[Sanchi]] etc., and drew numerous sketches and pen-ink drawings. He used to visit the zoo and sketch various animals, their movements and postures. He also made many sketches and colorful pictures of [[Chicken|cock]] as a subject. Additionally, he studied the folk art, folk dance and architecture of Indonesian islands like [[Java]], [[Sumatra]] and [[Bali]] through sketches and subsequently developed his own style.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=नेने |first=डॉ. गोपाळ |title=चावडा, श्यावक्ष धनजीभॉय |trans-title=Chavda, Shiavax Dhanjibhoy |url=https://maharashtranayak.in/index.php/caavadaa-sayaavakasa-dhanajaibhaoya |access-date=12 December 2022 |website=महाराष्ट्र नायक |language=mr}}</ref>
[[File:Bharatanatyam dancer - Shiavax Chavda.jpg|alt=Sketch of a Bharatanatyam dancer by Shiavax Chavda|left|thumb|256x256px|Sketch of a Bharatanatyam dancer by Shiavax Chavda]]

=== Style ===
Chavda was fascinated by the dynamic movements of individuals and groups of people engaged in their chores, dancers in various forms, and musicians showcasing their style and rhythm. He usually painted on canvas in [[impasto]] style, applying the paint with a [[painting knife]]. The characteristic of Chavda's artworks were the rhythmic lines, which he used to capture the motion and movements in the picture by sketching them quickly. In his paintings, he brought life to the image by using vivid colors while maintaining the predominance of sketched lines.<ref name=":1" /> Describing his approach to art, Chavda said:<blockquote>Correctness of colour does not matter. I even distort the figures to give them character and create designs with them. I find no pleasure in actually reproducing life as I see and paint realistically; where is creative imagination otherwise?<ref name=":5" /></blockquote>Gradually, Chavda started to portray his subjects in an abstract style using the same colours and textures that were applied in his early artworks.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Nadkarni |first=Dnyaneshwar |date=March 1988 |editor-last=Kaul |editor-first=Manohar |title=Chavda: The Golden Years |url=https://archive.org/details/KalaDarshanManoharKaul/page/n15/mode/2up?q=shiavax+chavda |journal=Kala Darshan |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=15}}</ref>[[File:Folk dancers - Shiavax Chavda.jpg|alt=Painting depicting folk dancers by Shiavax Chavda|thumb|Folk dancers (1967) by Shiavax Chavda]]

=== Themes ===
The subject matter was expressed by Chavda by systematically laying out the basic elements of a drawing like lines, shapes, rhythm etc. He created colorful drawings and sketches based on Indian dance forms such as [[Bharatanatyam]] and [[Odissi]] as well as ballet dance forms of Europe. He also used ''yantra'' from [[Tantra|Tantric art]] as images or symbols in his artworks.<ref name=":3" /> In 1949, [[Henry Heras]] had requested Chavda to create paintings on Christ-theme.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lederle |first=Matthew |url=https://archive.org/details/cxyj_christian-painting-in-india-by-mathew-lederle-gujrat-sahitya-prakash/page/28/mode/2up?q=shiavax+chavda |title=Christian Painting in India Through the Centuries |publisher=Gujarat Sahitya Prakash |year=1987 |location=Anand, Gujarat |pages=29, 39, 64–65}}</ref> The latter painted Biblical pictures such as ''Cross Maidan'' and ''Death of Pope Pius XII'' in [[Expressionism|Expressionist]] style which were exhibited in Rome during the ''[[Jubilaeum maximum]]''.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Raman |first=A. S. |date=1952 |title=Art in India Today |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/29757988 |journal=East and West |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=21–28 |jstor=29757988 |issn=0012-8376}}</ref>

=== Reception ===
In an article for [[Modern Review (Calcutta)|''The Modern Review'']], Prof. O. C. Gangoly wrote that Chavda successfully extracted the lessons from modern European art. He did not confine himself to Western modernistic techniques but also drew valuable lessons from the traditions of old Indian sculptures, which was demonstrated in his studies of the sculptures of [[Ambarnath]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gangoly |first=O. C. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dli.calcutta.09886/page/n53/mode/2up?q=shiavax+chavda |title=The Modern Review |date=July 1952 |volume=92 |location=Kolkata |pages=45 |chapter=Recent trends in Modern Indian Art}}</ref> Another article for ''[[The Contemporary Review]]'' by [[Avadhanam Sita Raman|A. S. Raman]] described Chavda as the master of mood and movement. Raman writes that he could capture a given moment with uncanny accuracy and spontaneity. Further, the writer mentions that the studied casualness of his line was deceptive, for there was a good deal of concentration and preparation behind it. "He painted the Indian scene with the sardonic precision and detachment of an observer, rather than with the passion and abandon of one involved in it", quotes Raman. He also suspected that Chavda secretly prayed at the shrine of [[Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raman |first=A. S. |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/dli.calcutta.05709/page/192/mode/2up?q=shiavax+chavda |title=Contemporary Review |date=April 1971 |volume=218 |pages=192 |chapter=How Modern is Indian Art? }}</ref>

== Work ==
Notable paintings of Chavda include ''Calico Printers'', ''Mother's love'', ''Worship in Kulu'', ''Rangoli'', ''Toddy Sellers'', ''Daily Work'', ''Booking Office'' and ''In the Balcony'' among others.<ref name=":5" /> He had created murals for the Mumbai offices of [[Air India]], [[Burmah Oil]], [[Reliance Group]] and the buildings of People's Insurance Company, [[National Centre for the Performing Arts (India)|National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA)]]. He also painted commissioned portraits for various government and private organizations. Chavda was invited by the Assam government to portray the diversity of tribal life in Assam.<ref name=":1" /> Additionally, he had provided line drawings for [[Balwant Gargi]]'s book titled ''Folk Theater of India''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gargi |first=Balwant |url=https://archive.org/details/folktheaterofind00gara/page/n13/mode/2up?q=shiavax+chavda |title=Folk Theater of India |publisher=University of Washington Press |year=1966 |location=Seattle}}</ref> Furthermore, he was associated with [[K. K. Hebbar]] for some time at the [[Bombay Art Society]], and sought to change the old way of thinking in the society and to bring a modern approach to it.<ref name=":2" />

=== Major exhibitions ===
Chavda's first solo exhibition was held in 1945 at the Princes' Room of the [[Taj Mahal Palace Hotel]] in Mumbai.<ref name=":3" /> This was followed by a one-man exhibition in 1946 at the Silverfish Club and another in 1947 at the Princes' Room of the Taj Hotel which was inaugurated on 15 January 1947. The latter show included a series of paintings made during his visit to [[Kullu Valley]] in 1943 and other set of artworks created during his stay in the remote villages of [[Gujarat]] in 1946.<ref name=":4" /> In May 1951, India had participated in [[Salon de Mai]] for the first time. Chavda was among the thirteen artists from India who had exhibited in the Indian section of this event.<ref name=":6" /> Chavda was also a part the Bombay Group which included artists like Hebbar, [[Laxman Pai]], [[D. G. Kulkarni]], [[Mohan Samant]], and [[Baburao Sadwelkar]] to name a few. This group organized six major exhibitions from 1957 to 1962 which was well received by the art community.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Sadwelkar |first=Baburao |editor-last=Doshi |editor-first=Dr. Saryu |title=Contemporary Art |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.calcutta.06879/ |journal=[[Marg (magazine)|Marg]] |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=65–80}}</ref>

=== Public collections ===
The artworks of Chavda are housed in the collections of several local and foreign collectors, museums and art galleries such as [[Baroda Museum & Picture Gallery]], [[National Gallery of Modern Art]], [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]],<ref name=":0" /> [[Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shiavax Chavda {{!}} JNAF |url=https://jnaf.org/artist/shiavax-chavda/ |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=jnaf.org}}</ref> [[Tate]]<ref>{{Cite web |last=Tate |title=Shiavax Chavda 1914 – 1990 |url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/shiavax-chavda-30670 |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=Tate |language=en-GB}}</ref> and [[Victoria and Albert Museum]] to name a few.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Chavda, Shiavax D. {{!}} V&A Explore the Collections |url=https://collections.vam.ac.uk/search/?q=Chavda%2c%20Shiavax%20D. |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=[[Victoria and Albert Museum]] |language=en}}</ref>

=== Awards and nominations ===
Chavda was elected as the [[List of Lalit Kala Akademi fellows|Fellow of Lalit Kala Akademi]] in 1986.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Lalit Kala Akademi Fellows |url=http://lalitkala.gov.in/recognition/fellows.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615063915/http://lalitkala.gov.in/recognition/fellows.asp |archive-date=15 June 2009 |access-date=1 January 2023 |website=Lalit Kala Akademi}}</ref> He was also adjudged as the 'Artist of the Year' by the [[Government of Maharashtra]] in 1990.<ref>{{Cite web |title='His life was a dedication to the arts': Shiavax Chavda's children talk about his retrospective exhibition |url=https://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-his-life-was-a-dedication-to-the-arts-shiavax-chavda-s-children-talk-about-his-retrospective-exhibition-2701500 |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=DNA India |language=en}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
In 1947, Shiavax married Khurshid Vajifdar, an expert in Indian classical dance and sister of [[Shirin Vajifdar]].<ref name=":0" /> They had two children{{Dash}}a daughter named Jeroo who is an [[Odissi]] dancer and a son named Pervez who is an architect.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Doctor |first=Geeta |date=21 September 2016 |title=Artist of the dancing line |url=https://www.parsiana.com/current-issue/articles.aspx?id=9cJB5a8Sxb0%3d&issue=305 |journal=[[Parsiana]] |volume=39 |issue=4 |pages=26–29}}</ref>

== Death and legacy ==
Chavda died on 18 August 1990 in Mumbai at the age of 75.<ref name=":2" /> A retrospective of his works was held at [[Jehangir Art Gallery]] in 1993 and 2017.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2017-10-25 |title=Shiavax Chavda: Grace on canvas |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/art/shiavax-chavda-grace-on-canvas/article19919222.ece |access-date=2023-01-23 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> Another retrospective was organized at the [[Nehru Centre]] Art Gallery in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 December 2018 |title=Indian Master's Retrospective - Shiavax Chavda (1914 - 1990) |url=https://www.nehru-centre.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/December-2018.pdf |website=Nehru Centre}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.shiavaxchavda.com/ Tribute website]

{{Fellows of the Lalit Kala Akademi|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavda, Shiavax}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Lalit Kala Akademi]]
[[Category:Painters from Maharashtra]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian male artists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian painters]]
[[Category:Sir J. J. School of Art alumni]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Slade School of Fine Art]]
[[Category:Parsi people from Mumbai]]

Shiavax Chavda - Revision history

Freeman14H: new details