Natvar Bhavsar

1934

Born in Gothava, Gujarat, on 7 April, one of five children, to a family of educators and textile hand-printers.

1953-55

Appointed first art teacher at Chanasma High School. Is provided funds to attend the C. N. School of Art in Ahmedabad.

1956-59

Takes up teaching art at The New School. Simultaneously, he enrolls in a five-year diploma course in art at C. N. School of Art offered by Sir J. J. School of Art, Bombay. Paints murals and frescos. Experiments with cubism. Graduates from art school and receives a degree in English literature.

1959-1961

Bhavsar works as a freelance display designer, book illustrator and professional painter. Joins Progressive Painters of Ahmedabad, becomes its general secretary. The group includes artists such as Jeram Patel, Shanti Shah, Piraji Sagara and Sharad Patel, among others. Is admitted to the Philadelphia Museum College of Art to study industrial design; leaves Ahmedabad on 25 June.

1962-63

Has first exhibition at Little Art Gallery, Philadelphia. Discontinues the industrial design course and applies to study painting at Tyler School of Art, Temple University. Gains admission and a scholarship to study at the University of Pennsylvania and begins classes in the graduate programme with Professors Piero Dorazio, Otto Piene, Savelli and Van Dyke. In weekly seminars, Bhavsar meets and experiences the avant-garde artists Robert Motherwell, David Smith, Barnett Newman, and the Zero Group artists from Europe.

1965-66

Graduates. Receives a JDR 3rd Fund grant and arrives in New York.

1967-69

Is included in ‘New Talent in Printmaking’ exhibition at Associated American Artists’ Gallery, New York. His FAALGUNA is selected for the Whitney Biennial.

1970

Has a solo exhibition at the Max Hutchinson Gallery in New York. ‘Beautiful Painting and Sculpture’ exhibition opens at Jewish Museum with seven of Bhavsar’s large paintings. His BHADRA is included in a group exhibition at Reese Palley Gallery in San Francisco. sul-dha is exhibited at the Jewish Museum, New York, and is acquired by hoteliers Joan and Roger Sonnabend and later donated to Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. Travels to Europe and India.

1972

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York acquires Bhavsar’s works. The Jewish Museum acquires a hundred-and-eight pastel works. Solo exhibition in Sydney, Australia.

1973

Bhavsar holds solo exhibitions in Philadelphia and New York.

1975

Receives John Simons Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, New York.

1976

Solo exhibition at Suzette Schochet Gallery, Newport.

1977

Two-part solo exhibition at the Max Hutchinson Gallery, New York, followed by a solo exhibition in Pittsburgh. Has solo exhibitions in Miami and Houston; his works are shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Collectors Diane and Steve Jacobson acquire Bhavsar’s Yosemite XII, and donate it to the Guggenheim Museum.

1982

Participates in the second International Triennale at the Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi. Wichita Art Museum holds a retrospective of Bhavsar’s works on paper titled ‘Natvar Bhavsar: Encounter with Color’.

1987

Receives Vishva Gurjari Award in Ahmedabad.

1990

Commissioned painting Orpheus is installed at the new Swiss Bank Corporation building in New York.

1998

ACP Vivian Ehrli Galerie, Zurich, holds a solo exhibition of Bhavsar’s paintings at Ascone, Switzerland.

2007

‘Natvar Bhavsar: The Dimensions of Color’ is held at Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick.

2009

Natvar Bhavsar: The Poetics of Color is published, documenting the art and life of the artist.

2010

Receives the Barnett and Annalee Newman Foundation Grant award for Creative Contribution to Art.

2011

A documentary film titled The Poetics of Color: Natvar Bhavsar, A Painter’s Journey on the artist is produced.

2012

His Sundervana sells for $53,125 against an estimate of $20,000 – $30,000 at an auction conducted by Doyle in New York.

2015

The exhibition ‘Natvar Bhavsar: Five Decades’ is held at Cara Gallery, NYC.

2016-17

Features in DAG’s exhibition ‘Memory and Identity: Indian Artists Abroad’ in New York. His works are also shown at the India Art Fair, New Delhi, and at Masterpiece, London. ‘Natvar Bhavsar: Homecoming’, a retrospective on the artist, is organised by DAG at its gallery in Mumbai.