This is what inspired Tyeb Mehta's art in the later part of his life

The Tyeb Mehta foundation recently held its annual lecture in Mumbai, not on art as one would expect, but on writers. The lecture pivoted towards writers who were Mehta’s contemporaries in the literary world and were part of the Progressive Writers’ Movement.

It seems, Mehta was close friends with many of the Urdu writers and poets, whose works he loved. His favourite author and poet was Faiz Ahmed Faiz, along with Kaifi Azmi and Sajjad Zaheer, who he knew personally, Mehta’s daughter Himani Dehlwi revealed. She said that Mehta, in the later part of his life, started leaning towards non-fiction work, which brought in new hues to his art undoubtedly.