history

Gallery Chemould, founded by Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy, is one of India's oldest established (1963) commercial art galleries. It has the distinction of having represented major artists, such as Tyeb Mehta, S.H. Raza, Bhupen Khakkar, Nalini Malani, Atul Dodiya and Jitish Kallat, emerging from the first waves of India's modernist and contemporary art movements, in first-time solo shows. The Gandhy's began their long association with contemporary art during the late 1940s, in the early years of the modernist art movement in post-Independence India. Their role and involvement as facilitators and promoters in this cultural climate has come to be seen as integral to the existing scene around the visual arts in the country.

The Chemould story started in 1941 with the establishment of Chemould Frames, Kekoo Gandhy's frame manufacturing business, through which he came to know the then young K. H. Ara, S. H. Raza, K. K. Hebbar and M. F. Husain. At a time when there were practically no venues for showing modernist art in the city Kekoo began to use his show room window to exhibit their works in specially designed frames while also promoting them to prospective clients. The show room thus became a site for small, informal solo shows such as that of M. F. Husain's in 1951.

In 1947 Kekoo Gandhy became the Honorary Secretary of the Bombay Art Society, the most significant art institution in the city at that time. During his tenure he organized exhibitions by Jamini Roy, Henri Cartier Bresson, and the Progressive Group, in the Society's Salon. In 1963, Kekoo was offered the opportunity to run a small gallery space on the first floor of the Jehangir Art Gallery, the city's public art gallery. He named it Gallery Chemould and started a select sponsoring art gallery, committed to creating a wider awareness and patronage for Indian modern/contemporary art. Through the 1950s, 60s and 70s Chemould promoted Ram Kumar, Tyeb Mehta, J. Swaminathan and Sabavala, and introduced to Bombay Bhupen Khakhar, Arpita Singh, Laxma Goud, Paritosh Sen, Bikash Bhattacharjee and Ganesh Pyne.

Chemould's activities were spread to other parts of the country through branches in Delhi and Calcutta and through traveling exhibitions. In 1965 a large exhibition of contemporary Indian art, Art Now In India, organised by the Lalit Kala Akademi was sent to the Festival Hall in London, accompanied by Kekoo Gandhy as the representative. It was subsequently shown in other cities of England and in Europe. Other major exhibitions organized by Chemould were: M. F. Husain's 21 Years of Painting in 1968, and the 1974 and 1987 Bombay Arts Festivals. Special Exhibitions to promote tribal and folk arts, such as that of well-known Warli artist Jivya Soma Mashe, were also organized.

Chemould has been represented through loan, collaboration and participation in several major international exhibitions: the 1st Johannesburg Biennale (1995), the Fire and Life Project in collaboration with Asialink (1996 & 1997), Contemporary Art in Asia: Traditions/Tension (1997) hosted by the Asia Society, Private Mythology: Contemporary Art From India (1998) in collaboration with the Japan Foundation Asia Center, Century City: Art and Culture in the Modern Metropolis (2001) hosted by the Tate Modern, Edge of Desire: Recent Art in India (2005) presented at the Queens Museum, New York, in collaboration with the Asia Society and the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth. In 2003, the Gallery commemorated its fortieth anniversary with an exhibition spanning four generations of Indian artists, curated by Geeta Kapur and Chaitanya Sambrani, titled, Crossing Generations: diVERGE.

Shireen Gandhy took over as the director in 1988 and added a new dynamism to its program by spearheading a particular focus on young emerging artists with an experimental and interdisciplinary approach to practice and media. For instance, in the early 90s when artists working with installations were far and few Chemould showed the first installation works of Subodh Gupta. On 2 February 2007 she inaugurated Chemould Prescott Road as an expansion initiative and branch concern of Gallery Chemould.