He was part of the
Bombay Progressive Artists' Group,
which included F.N. Souza, S.H. Raza
and M.F. Husain, etc.
He held the then record for the
highest price an Indian painting has
ever sold for at auction ($317,500
USD or 15 million Indian rupees)
for Celebration at Christie's in
2002.
In May 2005, his painting
Kali sold for 10
million Indian rupees (approximately
equal to 230,000 US dollars)
at Indian auction house Saffronart's
online auction.
A reinterpretation of the tale
of demon Mahishasura
by Mehta showing goddess Durga
locked in an embrace with the demon
sold for $1.584 million.
In 2008 one of his paintings
sold for $2 million.
In December 2005, Mehta's
painting Gesture
was sold for 31 million
Indian rupees to Ranjit Malkani,
chairman of Kuomi Travel, at the
Osian's auction. That made it the
highest price ever paid by
an Indian for a work of Indian
contemporary art at auction in India
at the time.
His were the first works by a
contemporary Indian artist to sell
for over a million dollars.
Awards
and Accolades
He received a fellowship from
the John D. Rockefeller 3rd Fund in
1968.
A gold medal for paintings at
the first Triennial in New Delhi in
1968.
In 1974 the Prix Nationale at
the International Festival of
Painting in Cagnes-sur-Mer, France.
Kalidas Samman, instituted by
the Madhya Pradesh Government, in
1988.
Dayawati Modi Foundation
Award for Art, Culture, and
Education in 2005.
PADMA BHUSHAN
in 2007.
His film 'Koodal' was awarded
the Filmfare Critics' Award
in 1970.
Commemorations
Mehta's work has been exhibited
in the Museum of Modern Art,
Oxford, England.
