Mahishasura
Oil on canvas by Tyeb Mehta (1996). A monumental figuration of Mahishasura — the buffalo demon of Hindu mythology — in Mehta's signature diagonal composition. A bold diagonal thrust divides the picture plane; the buffalo-demon figure is rendered in raw primary tones of red, yellow, and black, with explosive gestural energy. The work belongs to Mehta's extended Mahishasura series (late 1980s–1990s), in which the mythological demon figures as an allegory of power, sacrifice, and tragic heroism. Sold at Sotheby's Mumbai in 2005 for $1.58 million — the Indian auction record at the time.
Scholarly Significance
Tyeb Mehta's signature Mahishasura canvas; Sotheby's Mumbai 2005 Indian auction record ($1.58M). Anchors iconography + South Asian market layer.
Notes
- ·The Mahishasura figure in Hindu mythology is the buffalo demon defeated by Goddess Durga in the Devi Mahatmya text; festival of Navratri/Dussehra commemorates this victory.
- ·Tyeb Mehta's treatment inverts the standard iconography: the demon is presented not as unambiguously evil but as a monumental, tragic figure — charged with ambivalence.
- ·The diagonal composition is Mehta's formal signature: a line cutting from upper-right to lower-left forces the figure into a compressed, violent diagonal tension.
- ·Sotheby's Mumbai auction, 2005: $1.58M — Indian auction record at the time, predating the major Saffronart/Christie's South Asian boom of 2008+.