Nature Morte’s Colaba gallery is preparing to challenge conventional art historical narratives with its inaugural Salon Series exhibition, opening August 15. “Salon: The India Way,” curated by Poonji Nath under the direction of 24-year-old gallerist Devashi Jain, presents European and Indian modernist works in dense, salon-style hanging that deliberately disrupts hierarchical viewing.
The exhibition places Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, and Pierre-Auguste Renoir alongside Manjit Bawa, Tyeb Mehta, and F.N. Souza—not as comparative study, but as co-present voices in a shared modernist moment. This curatorial approach rejects the traditional East-West inheritance model, instead proposing modernism as simultaneous global phenomenon shaped by parallel artistic revolutions.
Jain, who holds degrees from NYU and Sotheby’s Institute of Art, leads Nature Morte’s new vertical dedicated to international and Indian modern art. The Salon Series addresses a specific market gap: while Indian collectors have long engaged with Western art abroad, few domestic platforms offer consistent access to blue-chip international works.
“Indian collectors have long engaged with Western art abroad, but few platforms within India offer consistent access to blue-chip international artists,” Jain notes. The series aims to demonstrate that “a Pablo Picasso can hang alongside a Bharti Kher in the same home.”
The exhibition borrows both form and spirit from the historic Paris Salon, creating what organizers describe as a “site of public encounter, artistic contestation, and aesthetic possibility.” The dense hanging style emphasizes abundance over isolation, encouraging viewers to discover visual and conceptual affinities across cultural boundaries.
Works by Paul Signac, Eugene Delacroix, Ram Kumar, Zarina Hashmi, and Sadanand Bakre complete the selection, representing what Jain calls “a different art history: one where Indian artists are not merely inserted into Eurocentric canons, but participate in re-writing them.”
The initiative extends beyond exhibition to include curated sales and advisory services, positioning Nature Morte as a bridge between Indian collecting practices and international modern art markets. The gallery’s established relationships with collectors, artists, and institutions provide foundation for this expansion into cross-cultural connoisseurship.
“Salon: The India Way” runs through September 15 at Nature Morte, Colaba, Mumbai, marking the first in an ongoing series that will continue to examine modernism through transnational perspectives.
Exhibition Details:
- Title: Salon: The India Way
- Curator: Poonji Nath
- Dates: August 15 – September 15, 2025
- Venue: Nature Morte, Colaba, Mumbai
- Featured Artists: Pablo Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Signac, Eugene Delacroix, Manjit Bawa, Ram Kumar, Zarina Hashmi, F.N. Souza, Tyeb Mehta, Sadanand Bakre, among others
Cover Image: Manjit Bawa Untitled, 2000, Nature Morte
Contributor
