PPS#31.4 Experiences, IV - The National Gallery of Modern Art

Practice Session. Krishen Khanna. Oil on canvas. 134.5 x 147’

February 12th, 2020

Dear Patient Reader,

Experiences, IV

The National Gallery of Modern Art

At the National Gallery of Modern Art, in the Jaipur House was the great collection through a retrospective of Upendra Maharathi (d. 1981). A man of many skills, his talent and dexterity spanned from paintings in various mediums, to architecture, design, and weaving. Maharathi excelled in Indian painting traditions and worked on intellectual thought. The grid motif drawings made by Maharathi for his weaves reminds one and resembles very much to Patan patola. It is wonderful, how artistic-craft traditions co-exist.

Having the opportunity to meet the Director-General of NGMA, Adwaita Gadanayak, he is as bright as Maharathi was. Gadanayak has a strong sense of display and sophistication. From a winding Ajanta-mural drawing to a viewer being able to see the design of a weave hanging face-down through a reflection, Gadanayak is pure thought- process.

The main building of NGMA, is where one can view centuries’ worth of both Western and Indian paintings. Spanning four floors of invaluable collections, it is a feast for the eyes. There is a certain excitement and satisfaction in getting to see works of art by the great Masters which you have studied and read about in real life.

Toilet. A.A. Almelkar, 1920-1982. Tempera on board. 49.5 x 59’

The Girl With Flower. G. Ravinder Reddy, 1989-1990. Fiber glass. 43 x 36 x 182 H’