I don't think I can start any kind of celebration without thanking the masters. I consider myself very fortunate for having been around them and for their support of Tao during its foundation years. They had faith in me as a passionate art lover and curator,” Kalpana Shah, founder of Tao Art Gallery, tells us during a walkthrough of A Glimpse into the Past, an exhibition on view at Tao till the end of the month. The gallery completes 25 years this year, a landmark it will celebrate with Gateways and Pathways, an exhibition featuring 50 artists, curated by Ranjit Hoskote and opening at Jehangir Art Gallery next month. This show serves as a tribute to Tao’s early collaborations with eminent Indian modernists and marks a beginning to the gallery’s anniversary celebrations. 

Bal Chhabda, The Desired Form with a patch of lust, 1963, Oil on Canvas, 51 x 40 inches

Curated by Shah, A Glimpse into the Past showcases works by Akbar Padamsee, Bal Chhabda, FN Souza, Himmat Shah, Krishen Khanna, MF Husain, Ram Kumar, and SH Raza. It features art, sculpture and mementoes collected by Shah over the years for exhibitions and through her personal interactions with the artists, and also collated from senior collectors. There is the famous nine-foot-tall cricket bat that MF Husain was invited to paint before a live audience in Bangalore in 2003 to commemorate the city’s hosting of the World Cup semi-final between India and England, and which Shah, attending the event as the artist’s guest, impulsively purchased. There is another by the artist also painted live at Tao Art Gallery in 2002 for the students of Cathedral & John Connon School, among whom was Shah’s son Sarjan. “Husain ji so spontaneously brought alive this colourful world with musical instruments as the children watched,” recalls Shah.