Rustom Siodia was a key artist in the development of the art scene in Western India at the outset of the 20th Century. Along with M.V. Dhurandar, Siodia can be seen as a successor to Ravi Varma in the lineage of Salon artists who created genuinely original work with a signature style. A product of Sir J.J. School of Art and the Royal Academy in London – where he was the first Parsee and perhaps first Indian to be enrolled – he was most active between 1915 and 1939. Although today best remembered for his portraits (one of which hangs in the former Prince of Wales Museum, Bombay), his innovative landscapes and historical paintings reveal a singular artistic vision, quite unlike anyone else working at that time in India. He worked in a range of media, from the monumental scale of the mural and set design, to the intimacy of book illustrations. He received major commissions at institutions such as the Royal Opera House in Bombay and the Imperial Secretariat (later to become Rashtrapati Bhavan) in New Delhi. Siodia was an essayist and a regular contributor to public debates. Chatterjee & Lal is honoured to work with the estate of Rustom Siodia. In November 2019, the gallery mounted a major retrospective of the artist to critical acclaim. Works have been placed in major private and institutional collections in India and abroad. The presentation for In Touch includes never before seen works.
