Here's how you can learn how to add motion to still images

A retrospective of Shiavax Chavda gives perspective on how to add motion to still images

How do you translate the movement of dance into a still painting, getting the fine lines right even as you portray a sense of motion? If observation is the first skill in learning, head to Jehangir Art Gallery this week where the works of Shiavax Chavda will be on display from Tuesday onwards. 

Chavda, a student of both Sir JJ School of Art in Mumbai and London's the Slade School of Fine Arts, has been hailed as a master draughtsman with critics saying "the line is the life and soul of his art".

But Chavda's inspiration wasn't only the urban. Born in Navsari in 1914, Chavda travelled extensively in India -- Assam, Himalayas, Gujarat and South India -- recording all he saw in his sketch books. His travels to Indonesia and Malaya, which explain the pen and ink sketches of Balinese dancers, masks and temple sculptures. He has also captured dancers of the Russian Imperial ballet, the Royal Ballet and New York City Ballet, including renowned ballerinas such as Margot Fonteyn and Anna Pavlova.

Chavda passed away in 1990 and this is the first time in 22 years that his works will be on exhibit in Mumbai. His first exhibition was held at Taj Hotel's Prince Room in 1945 and he is considered among the top modern artists of India.

What you get to see at the exhibition are a variety of the artist's works including his human studies, tempera work, fisherfolk, birds, serpents and animal series, Balinese masks, Indian musicians, classical Indian dancers, semi abstract and abstract art.

What: 'The Dancing Line – revisiting Shiavax Chavda', a Retrospective of paintings & sketches of the master
When: 11am to 7pm, October 24-October 30
Where: Jehangir Art Gallery, Kala Ghoda
Call: 22843989

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