Artists > Rustom Siodia
Rustom Siodia (1881 – 1946) was a painter, illustrator, and essayist. He was the first Parsi, and either the first or second Indian, ever to study at the Royal Academy, London. After his return to India, he went on to forge an art career that spanned the traditions of portraiture, landscape painting and history painting. The exhibition at Chatterjee & Lal argues for his place amongst the canon of significant artists working in India during the first half of the 20th Century. Along with M.V. Dhurandar, Siodia can be seen as a successor to Ravi Varma in the lineage of Salon artists who created genuinely original work with a signature style.
Since his death in 1946, this will be the first time a major body of Siodia’s work has been displayed. It is a group that charts the entire course of Siodia’s career, from art school at the Sir J.J. School of Art to the peak of his career in the 1930s. Having researched this extraordinary artist for more than a year, Chatterjee & Lal is honoured to be hosting this exhibition.
Select Works
Profile
Rustom Dadabhoy Siodia (1881 – 1946)
1881-1908 India
1908-1913 London
1913-1924 location at Grant Road, Bombay
circa 1924 – 1925 London
circa 1925 – 1929 location at Grant Road, Bombay
1929 Onwards location at Jogeshwari, Bombay
1939 – 1946 London with trips to France and Italy
Education
Student at Sir JJ School of Art, Bombay until 1908.
Student at The Royal Academy of Art, London 1908-1913. His teachers included Sir W. B. Richmond, Mr. George Storey, Mr. John Singer Sargent, and Mr. Solomon J Solomon.
Exhibitions
1911 Forty-fifth Exhibition of Modern Pictures. New English Art Club, London
1913 Shimla Fine Art Exhibition
1916 Bengal Fine Arts Exhibition in Darjeeling
1916 Simla Fine Art Exhibition
1921 Shimla Exhibition
Notable works
1911 “Roofs of Bombay”, at the The New English Art Club
Circa 1921 “Cinderella” exhibited in Bombay and at the Simla Exhibition
Circa 1913 – 1917 Fresco Paintings at the Royal Opera House between
1920 Involved murals at the JJ School of Art in Bombay
1929 Commissioned to make mural paintings at Imperial Secretariats, Delhi
Portraits
H. M. The King Emperor, exhibited at the New English Art Club and the London Saloon
Honorary late Justice Sir Dinsha D. Davar Kt.
Honorary Mr. Justice Beaman I.C.S.
Master Dally N Shroff, awarded at the Bengal Arts Exhibition, Darjeeling
Late Honorary P. C. Lyon C.S.I. for the Nawab of Comilla, possibly put up at the Calcutta
Town hall
Khanbahadur F. M. Dastur, the then Professor at the Elphinstone College
1912 Mrs. F. M. Cross of Chiwick, London in
1913 Erwad Navrojee Bhandari at Shimla Fine Art Exhibition
1916 Late Mr. Byramjee Jeejeebhoy C. S. I.
Awards
1908 Miss G. Stewart, awarded for best Portrait, study from life executed under Mr. Solomon J. Solomon
- A, at the Royal Academy
1913 Erwad Navrojee Bhandari at Simla Fine Art Exhibition
Awarded numerous medals and prizes, at the Fine Art Exhibitons in India
1916 Won Society gold medal at the Simla Exhibition
“Master Dally N Shroff”, at the Bengal Arts Exhibition
